Code Geass : Euphemia of the Revelation
by Francis456
Summary: AU. What if instead of Lelouch, Euphemia was the one sent to Japan with Nunnally? How would things change? Can Euphemia bring down her father and make the world a better place? Rated M for yuri and possible lemons.
1. Prelude to destiny

**Code Geass – Euphemia of the Revelation**

**Prelude to destiny**

**Disclaimer **– Code Geass is the property of Sunrise, Bandai Entertainment and Ichiro Okouchi, so I don't own anything afflicted with Code Geass.

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**Warnings **– Strong language, strong violence, Euphemia OOC (obviously), yuri, possible lemons in later chapters (unsure)

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**Summery **– AU fic. What if instead of Lelouch going to Japan with Nunnally, Euphemia went instead. The assassination of Marianne vi Britannia also cost her son, Lelouch his life; being caught up in the crossfire along with Nunnally. Euphemia, who was close to Lelouch and Nunnally suspects something and confronts her father about it, only to be disinherited and shipped off to Japan along with the crippled and blind Nunnally as political hostages of the ruling Kururugi Family. However, one month later, talks broke down and war broke out between Japan and Britannia, a war only lasting one month due to Britannia's new weapons, the Knightmare Frames. Forced to go into hiding with the help of Lady Marianne's friends in the Ashford Family, Euphemia bides her time, waiting for the opportunity to strike and bring down her father. Seven years later, events lead to her gaining the power to do so as well as investigate the reasons behind Lady Marianne's death and build a world where her half-sister can find happiness. However, will she succeed, especially when her enemy happens to be her own full-blooded sister, Cornelia and more importantly, will she eventually allow herself to be consumed by her hatred and lose sight of her goal or will she be able to retain her humanity and fulfil her aims?

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The date was August 10th in the year, 2010 on the Imperial Calendar. The Holy Britannian Empire had just declared war upon Japan. The far-east island had held fast to its neutrality and now Britannia looms as the world's only superpower. Rights to Japan's underground resources became a hotly disputed issue, straining the already deep-rooted diplomatic tensions between the two sides. In the deciding battle for the mainland, Britannian forces introduced into combat the humanoid autonomous armoured knight, known as the Knightmare Frame. The enemy's forces were far greater than anticipated and the Knightmares obliterated the Japanese line of defence on the mainland with little effort. Japan became a dominion of the Empire. The country was striped of its freedom, its rights and its name. Area Eleven, the defeated and once proud nation of Japan was rechristened with a mere number.

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**September 12****th**** 2010 a.t.b. **

Euphemia li Britannia stood by a harbour amidst the ruins of what was once a Japanese town. Her younger half-sister, Nunnally vi Britannia was already in the car that was nearby. Two men in grey business suits were nearby standing in front of a burning building and not making any attempt to put the flames out. There was clearly no point. Not far from her, sitting on a fallen piece of debris was her new friend and son of the late Japanese Prime Minister, Genbu Kururugi who reportedly committed seppuku upon realising that his country was doomed to lose, Suzaku Kururugi. He sat looking down at the ground, refusing to look at the ruins of his country. It was as if he was refusing to acknowledge what was going on round about him.

The sight of it absolutely sickened her. This was the fault of her father, the 98th Emperor of Britannia, Charles zi Britannia. The question on Euphemia's mind was, why? Why had her father sent both her and Nunnally off to a country that he invaded not even a month later? She remembered confronting him over the death of the Imperial Consort, Lady Marianne "the Flash" vi Britannia and Nunnally's mother after Lady Marianne had been assassinated by unknown terrorists and both her children, Lelouch and Nunnally had been caught up in the crossfire. Unfortunately, Lelouch's injuries cost him his life and Nunnally was crippled from the waist down and the trauma had caused psychological blindness, leaving her as a blind paraplegic. However, their father, whom was also Euphemia's father had turned a blind eye to the incident, dismissing it as if it were nothing.

Euphemia felt her blood boil as she remembered the confrontation she had with her father and how in her anger, she had renounced her claim to the throne as Third Princess of the Holy Britannian Empire, only to discover that her father had already disinherited her and Nunnally, calling them both weak; Nunnally due to her current situation and Euphemia because he felt that her views on life were too pacifistic for his taste and made her weak. From hearing that, she understood her father's true colours. He was a tyrant; a cold heartless monster that believed in strength and in the philosophy of the strong will crush the weak. To him, she had been nothing more than a sandbag that was weighing him down and he had used her confrontation over Lady Marianne's assassination as an excuse to cut her off. That infuriated her. She had been a nice and kind person by nature and had been pretty close with Lelouch and Nunnally despite Lady Marianne's commoner status, which had many of the other Imperial Consorts look down on her despite the fact she held the title, Knight of Honour and had once been the Knight of Six due to her phenomenal Knightmare piloting skills.

No doubt, it had been a possible motive for her assassination, since Lady Marianne performed the duties of a noblewoman so well; so well in fact that she made many of the arrogant nobility look like amateurs and Euphemia knew that those types of people did not like being outdone by those they considered inferior to them, which they felt Lady Marianne was due to her commoner status and the fact that she had managed to hold her own, even when ganged up on by the others probably only added to their fury. Basically, to Euphemia, it was a case of Lady Marianne was better at being a noble than the nobles themselves were and they could not stand that fact.

The car that Nunnally was in and which was waiting for her belonged to the Ashford Family, a former noble family that had fallen into disgrace after Lady Marianne's assassination. Lady Marianne had been a friend of theirs and a benefactor to their company, the Ashford Foundation and she even test-piloted their Knightmare Frame, Ganymede. However, after the assassination, the family had fallen from the Emperor's good graces, which led Euphemia to believe that that had been another possible motive for Lady Marianne's assassination, though she only came to that conclusion after overhearing part of a conversation between to members of the Royal Court. Thinking about it, she wondered if perhaps some of the Ashfords' rivals believed that them having an Empress as a benefactor would give them an unfair advantage as far as competition went and the Ashford Foundation could very well have access to resources that the others would not.

Anyway, Euphemia had called the Ashfords and asked for their help. She remembered her father saying how both she and Nunnally were dead to him and she decided that now was the best time to make him believe that that had become a reality before he discovered them both alive and could find new ways to use them to further his ambitions. Now would be the best time for them both to disappear and officially be declared dead.

"I'll make them pay," she said to no one in particular, causing Suzaku to raise his head and look at her, "I swear it in the name of my dead brother and Lady Marianne that I will make them all pay."

"Euphie?" Suzaku said in a confused tone, staring at his friend with a questioning look on his face.

Euphemia turned to him and gave him a gentle, satisfying smile. She did not mind the nickname as both Nunnally and Lelouch had called her by the same nickname. She remembered her time with them before that awful incident. It had been peaceful and she always thought that life was simple. She believed in peace and favoured negotiation as opposed to all-out war. She despised conflict and always believed that it could be avoided. However, upon seeing her father's true colours, she felt that she had been slapped in the face. Some people were beyond reason and force was the only thing capable of stopping people like that. Her father was one such example. He did not believe in negotiating. If he wanted something, he sent the military in to take it by force, like with Japan. Japan would not agree to Britannia's proposals on the trade of Sakuradite, so Britannia had just gone in and taken it. That enraged Euphemia to no end. The people of Japan would no doubt suffer because of this and all because her father could not accept things as they were. He was a power hungry tyrant and dictator. As much as it pained Euphemia, she knew that she had to go against everything she believed in to bring him down; but considering what he did to her and Nunnally, it was a price she was willing to pay. He had taken everything from her and so, she would take everything from him and all those who followed his lead in abandoning her and Nunnally.

"Don't worry Suzaku," she said with a smile, before her expression hardened into a serious look of determination, "I swear that someday I'll make things right. I swear that one day, I'll eradicate this corrupt Britannia. I'll see it burn."

The look in Euphemia's eyes scared Suzaku. It was a look he had never seen in her eyes before, nor did he ever imagine that kind, sweet Euphie would ever adorn such a look. He did not know what it was, but something in Euphemia's eyes told him that she was not just making an empty promise. He knew that Euphemia had every intention of making good on her statement or at least die trying and that scared him. This was so unlike the girl he had come to know the past two months.

He had to admit that at first, he was not too thrilled at the idea of his father playing host to a pair of princesses, believing them to be stuck-up snobs that would boss him around; getting him to carry out even the most simple of tasks. However, upon meeting Euphemia and Nunnally, seeing Nunnally's state and the fact that Euphemia introduced herself in a polite manner had caused all his animosity to vanish. They were not the stuck-up snobs he had envisioned them as and Euphemia even helped with his chores and took care of Nunnally herself. After a while, the three of them became fast friends. Euphemia had been very kind and polite and when Genbu had scolded Suzaku when he caught them both doing chores, Euphemia stood up for him, claiming that as a guest, she was obligated to earn her keep. That had touched Suzaku and he realised that this girl; princess or not clearly was not like what he envisioned her as.

As for Nunnally, she had a hard time accepting things and for the first few days, she threw tantrums and broke whatever she could get her hands on, though Euphemia had helped calm her down. However, she was not what he envisioned her as either and for her, he was willing to do things for her, though Euphemia insisted that she would be the one to do it, though she did allow Suzaku to help, as Suzaku let her help with his chores. She obviously felt indebted to him for that.

However, seeing Euphemia now, he could only wonder if "Euphie", the girl he had come to know had died because this was so unlike her. He pictured Euphemia with her nice and gentle smile and who was so kind and caring towards him and who was willing to stand up for him.

"Sorry Suzaku," Euphemia said, bringing Suzaku out of his thoughts as she gave him a sad look, "But Nunnally and I have to go. You understand, don't you?"

Suzaku nodded with a smile.

"Of course Euphie," he said, though in truth, he did not understand at all, but he knew that Euphemia had her reasons and did not question them, "You're doing this to protect yourselves."

Euphemia nodded with one of her usual characteristic smiles.

"Yes and I hope that we'll see each other again someday," she replied, giving him a polite bow before making her way to the Ashford Family's car.

Maybe Euphie was not dead after all Suzaku figured with a content smile.

However, Euphemia's thoughts were elsewhere.

"I wasn't totally lying Suzaku when I said this was for protection," she thought as she gave her friend a sad glance from inside the car as it started to drive off, "I am doing this from our protection, but not from the people you're thinking. We're doing this for protection against that man."

Her face twisted into a bitterly furious expression as she thought of her father; the demon that had dumped her and Nunnally here and left them for dead.

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However, unbeknownst to anyone, a lone figure stood atop a nearby hill watching as the car drove off. Closing her eyes, the woman sighed as she started to walk away as soon as the car was out of sight.

"I understand," was all she said before becoming silent again as she walked off in the direction of the car.

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**2017 a.t.b.**

Sixteen-year-old Euphemia Lamperouge sat in the student council room of Ashford Academy completely bored out her brain. It was lunchtime and she had nothing to do. Sure often slipped out with her friend, Rivalz Cardemonde to gamble in order to earn enough money to support her and her half-sister, Nunnally. Sure she was living with the Ashford Family and they still had a lot of money left over from their fall from grace, but Euphemia had refused to accept money off them, unless she was desperate. The way she saw it, she wanted to earn her way through life and felt that accepting money from the Ashfords would be leeching off them and given how the head of the family wanted the family's former status restored, Euphemia felt that she could not afford to worsen their troubles by leeching off their finances.

She had been lucky so far. She won most of her gambling games; simply because her opponents were either nobles that thought too highly of themselves and relied on their status and their overconfident looks to scare their opponents into submission or making mistakes or they believed that Euphemia was a pushover because she was a girl. In some cases, it was a combination of both, though she had played against female opponents before; usually overconfident noblewomen that believed they were untouchable because of their status. Boy did Euphemia prove them wrong and she enjoyed doing it; knocking those who thought too highly of themselves of their high horses and sent them crashing down to reality.

Chess was her favourite game, though she only took it up because she saw how good her half-brother, Lelouch was so good at it; so good in fact that the only one who ever managed to defeat him was their half-brother, Schneizel. It was Lelouch that taught her how to play and showed her effective strategies. To her, Lelouch had been amazing as he had been able to turn the tables even when it looked like he would lose. She learned everything she knew about chess from Lelouch and she had yet to come across an opponent that she could not defeat aside from her older full-blooded sister, Cornelia, her half-brother, Schneizel since even Lelouch could not defeat him himself and finally, Lelouch himself before her exile and she also managed to play her half-brother Clovis to a stalemate before beating him in a rematch.

"Hey Euphemia," a boy's voice came, bringing the former Britannian Princess out of her thoughts, "Come on let's go. The principal's in trouble."

"Thanks Rivalz, I was bored," Euphemia replied as she got up out her seat and walked towards the blue haired, grey eyed boy with a smirk; glad that she had an excuse to slip out.

She only ever left whenever she heard of gambling events and knew where they were held. She never left to look for events when she did not know where they were. After all, she had classes and she always made sure to finish things up quickly before it was time to head back. She was not the sort of person that strung her opponents along before finally defeating them, though the notion was tempting and perhaps irresistible if not for the fact she had a set time limit before she had to get back to class and so far, she had never been late once.

"So, old Ruby-boy's in need of my assistance, is he?" Euphemia went on, in a somewhat prideful tone, "What's he gone and done this time?"

"Beats me," Rivalz replied with a shrug, "Probably on the losing end of some nobleman's game."

Ruby-boy was Euphemia's nickname for the principal, Ruben K. Ashford whose son was head of the Ashford Family. The Ashford Family now had an academy in the Tokyo Settlement of what Britannia now called Area Eleven, which was once Japan that they founded after they fell from the Emperor's good graces and despite Ruben passing on the title of Family Head to his son, he still ran the academy as its principal, which was where his granddaughter, Milly attended. Ruben had been a good friend of Lady Marianne, almost like a fatherly figure to her. He was a kind and gentle man who did not hold Lady Marianne in contempt because of her status as a commoner; one of the many reasons, at least in Euphemia's mind that the Ashford Family had fallen into disgrace. He had been kind enough to accept her plea for help despite having never met her in person before, though she was sure that Nunnally had vouched for her since she was Lady Marianne's daughter.

"Not Area Eleven, this is Japan," Euphemia thought bitterly, shaking her head in disgust, overhearing some students discussing the area.

However, she just continued to walk onwards. People who sympathised with "Numbers" were not well liked and regarded as traitors by the masses, which angered Euphemia greatly. These people were not "Elevens"; they were Japanese and unfortunately for her, being Britannian herself had earned her hateful and scornful looks from the Japanese as she passed a few of them by over the years. That did not sit well with her, though she could not blame them for their hate-filled glares. The majority of Britannians did look down on the Japanese and treated them like dirt, so it was not surprising that they tarred all Britannians with the same brush. However, instead of directing her hatred back at the Japanese, she turned that hatred towards Britannia… or more specifically, her father and each time a Japanese person sent her a glare, her hate for her father only grew.

Mentally snorting to herself, she continued to follow Rivalz out the building to his motorcycle.

"I suppose we best get this over with," she thought to herself with a sigh.

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**Author's Notes **– Well this is a new fic. As I said in the Author's Notes of my Orangette Destiny fic, I may start new fics while working on others, but that doesn't mean I've abandoned them. For my Naruto fic, I still have writer's block caused by trying to get college placement sorted and I've decided to take a break from Orangette Destiny. This is just an idea that just came into my head out of nowhere after watching episode 22 of R1. As you all know, Lelouch is dead in this fic, but don't think that Euphie's going to be a female version of him. I like Lelouch a lot and I plan on having him being an influence on Euphie… like being able to influence her from beyond the grave. Personality wise, Euphie will have some traits in common with Lelouch, but will have traits that will keep her true to her cannon self. For example, she won't be as willing to do things as Lelouch had been without considering the consequences and I don't plan on doing carbon copy anime scenes with Euphie being in Lelouch's place, though I will admit that some scenes will be like that. Also there will undoubtably be yuri in this fic and possible lemons, though I'm very wary about Lemons because, as I said before in one of my Author's Notes for my Naruto fic, the practice Lemons I did were kind of dry and boring, I fear that putting in a Lemon would cause me to turn the fic into a PWP and I don't want that.


	2. Destiny begins

**Code Geass – Euphemia of the Revelation**

**Destiny begins**

**Disclaimer **– Code Geass is the property of Sunrise, Bandai Entertainment and Ichiro Okouchi, so I don't own anything afflicted with Code Geass.

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**Warnings **– Strong language, strong violence, Euphemia OOC (obviously), yuri, possible lemons in later chapters (unsure)

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It was a peaceful day in the Tokyo Settlement of what had once been Japan, which Britannia had renamed Area Eleven. The citizens of the settlement went about their daily lives, completely oblivious to most of the goings on around them; not that they expected anything out of the ordinary would happen. After all, terrorist attacks were pretty much the norm these days with the Japanese, who had been renamed Elevens unhappy about their oppression after Britannia had conquered their once proud nation seven years previously. The Britannians had then built their settlements and drove the Japanese out and into the ruins of their own cities, which had been declared ghettos. Any part of a ruined city that Britannia was not interested in pretty much became a ghetto and they housed multiple terrorist groups, though they had major disagreements with one another; they were all united in one overall goal; defeat Britannia and reclaim what had been stolen from them. Terrorist attacks could happen at any time and anywhere. However, this did not dissuade the people from their everyday routine. Over the years, they had learned to live with it and if they happened to get caught up in an attack; that was just their bad luck.

However, a VTOL Britannian Police Aircraft happened to be following a truck on a road on the outskirts of the settlement. The truck had been hijacked by a terrorist group and was transporting something of great importance to the area's Viceroy, something so important that the military had saw fit to retrieve before the terrorists could use it for their own ends.

"This is Alpha Three," the pilot of the police aircraft said as he observed the truck moving along the road with high-rise buildings to the right and a lake to the left as the road was built at the rim, "Target is travelling from Delta Twelve toward Delta Fourteen at a speed of 80km/h."

"C.C.P. to all mobile units," a voice could be heard over the radio, "Declaring a Code Three from Floor Five to Floor Two; all units take 2-8-8. I want the target in tact."

The police aircraft just continued to follow the truck, tracking its progress.

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Meanwhile in one of the many buildings within the settlement, a chess match was taking place between Ruben K. Ashford and a rich, overly dressed and overly confident nobleman. In the room was a TV at the far wall to the right of the door showing a news bulletin about a terrorist attack in Osaka.

"Here's video footage of yesterday's terrorist bombings in Osaka," the newswoman said as a picture of three buildings with the far right one billowing out smoke behind her to her left, "The secretary reported fifty-nine casualties in this incident; eight Britannians and fifty-one others."

Just then a timer that was sitting on the table next to the chessboard with its back to the TV started to beep just as one of the nobleman's aides, the one behind Ruben turned the TV off with a remote control.

"You're out of time," the aide said to the already nervous old man, "From here on, you'll make your moves every twenty seconds."

Ruben just stared at the nobleman who seemed more concerned about filing his nails that concentrating on the game. It made Ruben nervous and why shouldn't he be, he asked himself. The situation looked hopeless. Sure he had eleven pieces left on the board and his opponent only had ten, but from the positions of his pieces on the board, he had to say the nobleman had the advantage. In fact, all this man did was file his nails throughout the entire game, not once taking him seriously and given the man's status, Ruben had become nervous rather easily. They say that chess was a nobleman's game and the nobles were all professionals and from the looks of it, it seemed that that notion was a reality.

Ruben had to admit that despite his family's former noble status, he was not much of a chess player. The nobility always seemed to gamble, playing for stakes and unfortunately for Ruben, this was one bet he could not afford to lose. He may no longer be considered nobility, but this noble had been kind enough to offer him over half his wealth, so long as Ruben staked the ownership of Ashford Academy. Knowing that he'd lose the academy if he lost, Ruben's nervousness only increased. This man clearly had him beat. His confidence right from the start had said as much.

"Heh, very well, I'm game," the nobleman said in response to his aide's statement as he continued to file his nails, not caring much for the game as he saw it as a mere formality.

Ruben gulped as his hands slowly moved towards the board, shaking as he had not decided which piece he wanted to move; not that it mattered, this man was clearly the winner already and he knew it.

However, just then the doors behind him opened, causing him to turn and look round as two figures entered the room and Ruben's expression changed to one of glee as he started laughing in relief.

"Did your substitute arrive?" the nobleman asked in an uncaring tone, convinced that it did not matter who the replacement was as he was sure he had already won

"Oh, thank heaven, I'm saved," Ruben said as he got up and slowly ran over to his saviours, ignoring the nobleman's question; not that the nobleman cared, "Are things going well at school?"

"Things are going well," the figure the right replied in a female voice as she stepped into the light, revealing herself as a girl with long light pink hair and deep light blue eyes and wearing a girl's school uniform of Ashford Academy.

"What have we here; a schoolgirl?" the nobleman said in an unimpressed tone as he suppressed the urge to burst out in laughter, "Are you so desperate old man that you hired this supermodel wannabe to fill-in for you?"

"Well, look at this; a nobleman," the girl replied in an uncaring tone; appearing not to be affected by the insult as the boy beside her came into the light with short blue hair and grey eyes wearing a boy's school uniform of Ashford Academy.

"I envy you kids today, you have so much time on your hands," the nobleman countered, not caring about the girl's dismissive tone as he held one of his chess pieces in his fingers and tapped it down on the table, "Time for regrets. What's your name girl?"

"Euphemia Lamperouge," the girl replied before studying the board to see what Ruben had left her to work with.

In all honesty, at first glance it seemed rather hopeless for her, but Euphemia knew a way how to turn it around and apparently, this overconfident oaf of a man had not caught on.

Unfortunately her friend did not think so.

"Wow, you can't possibly win this one, it's impossible right?" he said, studying the chessboard and completely missing what Euphemia had seen

"Rivalz, when would we have to leave in order to make our next class?" Euphemia asked, ignoring Rivalz's comment as she stared down the nobleman.

"Eh, twenty minutes if we bust our humps," Rivalz replied after thinking it over for a few seconds.

Euphemia nodded with a smirk.

"Then be sure to drive safely on the way back," she replied simply as the nobleman impatiently tapped his chess piece on the table, indicating that he wanted to get things over with, "Just give me five, six minutes tops with this guy and we'll be on our way."

She then turned her attention to Ruben, who was still in the room, standing to her left slightly behind her.

"And by the way, about yesterday…" she went on.

"Understood ma'am, we'll discuss it later," Ruben replied, interrupting her.

"Good," Euphemia stated, nodding in content before turning her attention back to the nobleman.

"Five to six minutes, but you only have twenty seconds per move," the nobleman stated, trying to keep the confusion out of his voice as the timer beeped again.

"Enough time," Euphemia said as she reached for her king piece and played it.

"Hmm, you start with the king?" the nobleman asked in an amused tone before bursting into maniacal laughter.

Euphemia only responded with a deceptively kind and sweetly innocent smile… the sort of smile that seemed to say "I'm just an innocent girl, I can do no wrong" as she studied her opponent.

The nobleman had short, nicely-combed brown hair a small thin moustache the small colour as his hair and light blue eyes. He wore a red coat with golden outlining that decorated the front and black cuffs, a black jacket underneath that was buttoned up with white buttons, a white shirt and a white scarf wrapped round his neck with part of it running down his front and underneath his jacket like a tie. There was also a circular golden pin on the scarf at the front and Euphemia noticed the many rings that adorned his fingers on both hands. All in all, it was as if he was immaculately clean and his clothes were spotless.

Predictable as ever, she told herself. Like many of the opponents she had faced in the past, this man was another overconfident noble that liked to show off his wealth and use it to boast about how he was better than everyone else. Nobles seemed to find it effective in their gambling as showing off their status and boasting about it seemed to scare their opponents into either giving up or making mistakes they could have easily avoided and giving the noble the victory, at least that's how Euphemia saw it.

However, she could see right through this man's overly-done façade. Like she said, she could beat this man in five to six minutes, playing seriously and she knew just how to do it with the nobleman not knowing that he was beaten until she had said the word, "checkmate".

"Poor fool won't know what hit him," she thought with a mental laugh.

* * *

Meanwhile at Ashford Academy, Shirley Fenette, Milly Ashford and Nina Einstein were having lunch on the lawn of the inner courtyard, sitting on circular stones that were carved into perfect circles.

"Where's Euphemia?" Milly asked curiously.

"I think she must have gone somewhere with Rivalz," Shirley replied with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"What?" Milly replied with an uncaring shrug, "Maybe its poker this time."

"They seem to forget that they're on the student council," Shirley replied with the annoyance still evident in her voice as she held her fork in front of her pointing in an upwards diagonal angle with a small tomato skewered into it, "They're off gambling for money. Euphie maybe smart, but she wastes her brain on stupid things. If only she'd apply herself in school, she'd get high grades."

"Oh, I wish my darling Euphie would be a serious young woman," Milly said with a teasing laugh, "How adorable is that?"

Shirley, who had just placed the tomato in her mouth suddenly found herself swallowing it down the wrong way, causing her to cough and stand up and the contents of her lunchbox fell onto the grass.

"Just what are you implying Madam President?" she asked in an outraged tone after recovering from swallowing the tomato down the wrong way, staring at the student council president with a look of disgust and not caring for the fate of her lunch

She honestly could not believe what Milly had just implied. The very thought of it sounded wrong and disgusting. Her face had became a bright shade of red; red with anger and embarrassment.

"Oh calm down," Milly laughed, waving it off, "I wasn't serious. I was just teasing you."

Shirley seemed to calm down somewhat after that, though some anger was still evident in her eyes. However, Milly's face then became serious.

"However, with the way you obsess over Euphemia, people just may get the wrong idea," she went on, "You don't want people think you're weird now, do you?"

"I have to agree with Milly," Nina said in her usual shy and quiet voice, "You do obsess over her a lot."

"Please," Shirley scoffed in an uncaring tone, waving it off, "If I cared what everyone thought about me, I'd have started complaining a long time ago."

"Whatever," Milly sighed in a dismissive tone, waving it off.

* * *

Meanwhile, the occupants of the truck that had been driving into the settlement had just noticed that they were being followed by the police aircraft.

"Perfect, after we finally steal this damn thing," the male driver growled with gritted teeth, "It's all because Tamaki couldn't stick to Naoto's plan and now we've got a problem."

The female passenger remained silent with her cap over her eyes as the patrol helicopter continued to track their progress.

* * *

Meanwhile, back inside the building where Euphemia had substituted for Ruben, the nobleman's nail file fell to the floor as Euphemia had made her final move and he nobleman realised that he had been beaten.

"Checkmate," Euphemia said as a smile crept onto her face as she witnessed the nobleman's look of disbelief; the look of someone who believed that their whole world had crumbled to dust.

However, since this nobleman was foolish enough to stake over half his financial wealth, Euphemia could not say she blamed him. She had just earned enough money to support herself and Nunnally for a full three months, considering the fact that they liked to buy a lot of things on the side.

"Okay, now pay up Mr Spacer, I believe I won," she said with a kind and sweet smile and her tone deceptively polite.

She loved defeating those of the nobility who were arrogant snobs. Every time they lost, from the looks on their faces, it was like their worlds had caved in around them and to Euphemia, she was giving them a hard slap in the face, knocking them off their high horses and causing them to come crashing back down to reality, just like her father had done to her. Each new opponent she devastated, she pictured her father with the same expression on his face. Her father had given her a hard slap of reality when he had her exiled along with Nunnally. To her, each victory was a victory against the Empire… each victory was a victory against her tyrannical father whom she swore to bring down.

The nearest aide to the nobleman, Mr Spacer's left wrote out a cheque and handed it to Euphemia, seeing as his superior was frozen in shock, still unable to comprehend how he had been beaten. He could have checkmated Euphemia if he had lasted just three more turns. However, he noticed that Euphemia's remaining pawns had practically boxed his king in. He had had multiple opportunities to take them out of play, but he did not see it as being worthwhile and now he had paid the price.

"A word of advice Mr Spacer, don't underestimate the value of pawns," Euphemia said as she turned to leave along with Rivalz, "However, if it's any consolation, I learned that strategy from my late half-brother. In fact, I learned to play chess from him and if you keep playing with that smug attitude, you're gonna end up bankrupt."

At hearing this statement, Mr Spacer's brain shut itself off and he dropped to the floor with a thud just as Euphemia and Rivalz walked out the door.

"Um, did he just faint?" one of his aides asked in a confused tone, causing the others to look at him as if he was out of his mind since the answer was obvious.

* * *

"I love playing against the nobility," Rivalz said as he and Euphemia stood in the elevator on the way down to the ground floor, "When they lose, they always pay out of pride; by the way, five minutes and two seconds in a new record."

In truth, he could not believe that Euphemia had managed to pull a rabbit out of the hat so to speak. Right up until the very end, it seemed that Mr Spacer had the advantage, but then Euphemia had moved her last pawn into place and that was that. He had been concentrating on the positions of Euphemia's most valuable pieces and not on the positions of his own and he overlooked the pawns as well. He had to admit that Euphemia was amazing.

"He also didn't have much time to move either," Euphemia replied as the elevator reached the ground floor and they both started walking across the lobby to the exit, "And as opponents go, the nobles are tepid. They're just over-privileged parasites, that's all."

"Over-privileged parasites that feel that they own the world and can't stomach the idea of being outdone and shown up for the overrated idiots they really are by commoners," she added in her thoughts with a grimace as she remembered how infuriated the Imperial Consorts were when Lady Marianne proved her worth as a noblewoman despite her commoner status and making many of the others seem like amateurs.

Her own mother was among them, in fact her mother had been the worst of them and it was only made worse by the fact that her eldest daughter, Cornelia idolised Lady Marianne and took up Knightmare piloting because of her. To Rochelle li Britannia, a commoner possessing abilities that made the nobility look weak was a mistake of nature. She had regarded Lady Marianne as if her very existence was a crime against humanity, but that was only because she could not stand the fact that Lady Marianne was better than her and she only allowed her and Cornelia to socialise with Marianne's children because the Emperor had forced her to.

"Well then, why don't you challenge one of the Elevens," Rivalz asked, bringing her out of her thoughts as he ran in front of her and turned to face her while walking backed with his hands clasped behind his head as the automatic doors behind him opened, "They're nothing like us Britannians."

"Not Elevens Rivalz, they're Japanese!" Euphemia snapped with uncharacteristic fury in her voice, causing Rivalz to jump in astonishment.

However, before he could reply, he overheard mumbles from behind him.

"Huh?" he said as he turned around and both he and Euphemia looked up to see a huge-screen TV on the side of the building on the opposite side of the street showing footage from the previous day's terrorist attacks in Osaka.

"Just what are they trying to prove by killing innocent people?" they heard a man ask.

"Those Elevens terrify me," a woman stated.

A beeping noise was heard before the image on the TV screen changed to one showing the flag of Britannia.

"We apologise for any delay," a feminine electronic voice boomed, seemingly from the TV screen, "Now, his Royal Highness Prince Clovis, Third Prince of Britannia will address the nation."

The image on the TV changed again to a man with flamboyantly dirty blonde hair and light greenish blue eyes wearing gloves that ran up the length of his arms, a blue jacket with golden outlining and crescent shapes wherever it happened to be buttons; two crescents back-to-back and facing upwards and downwards. He also adorned a white cape with epaulets that spanned his shoulders and a small rope running over a cloth that he had hanging out the top of his coat like a tie. Behind him was grey wall with red curtains visible at either side of the screen and in the middle was a Britannian flag outlined with thin orange and thick yellow and the bottom with shaped like an arrow pointing downwards with the orange becoming thick and highlighted by the thick yellow outline.

"To all my Imperial subjects," the man, who was obviously Prince Clovis, started to say, as Euphemia's eyes narrowed just as Clovis held his arms up at his sides like he was acknowledging an audience, "Including, of course the many cooperative Elevens that choose to serve the Empire of Britannia."

* * *

Meanwhile, the terrorists in the truck that was fleeing from the police were watching a mini-TV built into the truck and were also listening to Clovis's speech.

"We're not Elevens, we're Japanese," the female passenger growled bitterly with venomous hatred in her voice.

* * *

"They're not Elevens, they're Japanese you overly pompous twit," Euphemia thought bitterly, glaring up at the screen, imagining that Clovis was right there so she could give him a piece of her mind.

"Do you not see my pain?" Clovis went on as he brought his hand over his heart and grasped his jacket as if he were suffering a heart attack, in an overly dramatic fashion "My heart was ripped from my chest only to be torn apart. The remnants are filled with rage and sadness. However, as ruler of Area Eleven, I will not tolerate terrorism of any kind because the battle we fight is a righteous one; a virtuous battle to protect the well-being of one and all. Now then everyone, I would like you to join me in observance of the eight who died for justice; in the line of duty."

"A moment of silence please," the electronic voice boomed as Rivalz prepared his bike and Euphemia dealt with the parking meter.

"Well, aren't you going to join in?" Rivalz asked as the parking barrier descended into the ground.

"Aren't you?" Euphemia replied simply with her own question.

"Heh, it's sort of embarrassing," Rivalz replied as he mounted himself o the bike.

"And I agree with you," Euphemia said in agreement, picking up a slip of paper from the meter, "Besides, spilling tears over those people won't bring them back to life now, will it?"

"Dang, that's dark Euphie," Rivalz responded, placing his goggles over his eyes.

"It's all about self-satisfaction," Euphemia went on, though whether it was a response to his comment or if she had ignored him and was just continuing her speech, Rivalz did not know, "Doesn't matter how hard you try, you can't do it. There's no way you can change the world."

There was a bitter tone hidden in her voice as she glared up at the now blank TV screen. If tears could bring people back, then Lelouch and Lady Marianne would have been brought back years ago; not that she was against grieving and mourning. After all, bereavements causing sadness and pain was natural. However, she knew that Clovis was blowing it out of proportions.

"What about the fifty-one others?" she thought furiously, shaking her head in disgust.

It was typical Britannian pride, she figured; caring only for their own while everyone else did not matter in the slightest. Clovis was one such example, displayed in his speech, acting like a wounded child, saddened by his injuries and pleading for help. He was a good actor, she would give him that much. Many of the Britannians living in the settlements were too ignorant and self-absorbed with themselves to see through his façade; either that or, in some cases, they just did not care and it was that attitude that sickened her. The majority of people did not seem to realise that non-Britannians were people as well just like them. Clovis, in Euphemia's opinion was just an arrogant pig-headed fool that was way too obsessed with himself.

To any smart person, it was clear that he cared more about his appearance than his duties as the area's viceroy and like the noblemen she had faced in the past, used his overly immaculate good looks and status to get by. Euphemia doubted that he could handle a proper crisis and would probably duck for cover at the first sign of trouble while leaving his forces to deal with the imposing threat.

"You've become just as corrupt as that man," she thought bitterly, cringing as the words, "that man"; the term she used to address her father, passed through her mind as she climbed into the pillion attached to the motorcycle as she remembered her time with Clovis before she and Nunnally were exiled, "Are you really that weak that you allow that man to poison your mind with his tyrannical garbage?"

* * *

Meanwhile, in the building where Clovis had given his speech, Clovis stood on a platform as the robotic cameras and microphones ascended and removed themselves as Clovis descended a small flight of stairs leading down from the platform. The room itself was filled with well-dressed men and woman gossiping and having drinks with one another.

"You were magnificent Your Highness," a woman spoke, commenting Clovis on his performance, "One would never guess that you were attending a party while doing that."

"After all, the Viceroy is the marquee actor of Area Eleven," Clovis replied dismissively as two aides came from either side and removed his cloak for him, "I need to change costumes quickly."

"My, you're so self-confident," the woman replied as Clovis brushed his fingers against the cloth hanging out from the top of his jacket.

"It's all in the performance," Clovis went on, not caring for the woman's comment, looking off to his left, "Since the media want a charismatic prince, I give them one."

"Untrue," a man who was obviously a journalist from the media spoke up, "Prince Clovis, our key purpose in life is to support and assist your reign in any way we can."

"His reign s a pathetic sham," a man leaning against the wall to the right of the entrance door just mumbled, looking up from a book he was reading.

He was situated behind the journalists and reading a book, clearly uninterested in the party and was one of the few who knew Clovis's true colours and how he had little to no regard whatsoever to even his own people and would no doubt use them all as human shields to save his skin.

"My, my, your mother, Gabriella would be so proud if she saw you now," a woman said in an almost boastful tone as she walked in front of Clovis.

This woman, who had waist-length reddish pink hair and deep aqua blue eyes, caused Clovis to shiver. She had black lipstick lining her lips and wore a red strapless dress with matching red high-heeled shoes and a necklace with a hexagonal shaped diamond ruby.

"I'm sure she would be… Lady Rochelle," Clovis replied with a cringe, trying hard to keep the disgust out of his voice.

This woman, Rochelle li Britannia was, along with his own mother, Gabriella la Britannia was one of his father's many wives. Unfortunately, she kept on making frequent trips over to "Area Eleven" and constantly harassed him for tougher measures in handling the "Numbers" as the natives were called. Of course, he knew the truth. Clovis remembered when his father had Rochelle's youngest daughter, Euphemia and Lady Marianne's daughter, Nunnally exiled to Japan. Rochelle had rather reluctantly gone along with sending Euphemia to Japan, since she had confronted the Emperor about Lady Marianne's assassination.

In truth, Rochelle absolutely despised Lady Marianne with a passion and was actually quite pleased that she had "removed" as she saw it. In Rochelle's eyes, Lady Marianne had been a curse on the nobility due to her commoner status and the fact that she was able to hide it well with her actions. Many of the other Imperial Consorts did dislike Lady Marianne for her commoner status, but they did have some degree of respect for her due to her phenomenal skills as a Knightmare pilot and how she managed to hold her own against them all when they ganged up on her. However, unlike them, Rochelle had no respect for Lady Marianne whatsoever and absolutely reviled her and detested her children and only allowed her own children to socialise with Lady Marianne's at the Emperor's insistence.

Anyway, when Euphemia was sent away to Japan along with Nunnally as a political bargaining chip, Rochelle had reluctantly gone along with it due to Euphemia standing up for "that disgusting witch" as Rochelle had dubbed Lady Marianne. Her hatred was only amplified through her oldest daughter, Cornelia's idolisation of Lady Marianne; Cornelia who was in charge of Lady Marianne's personal guard and who failed to protect her and her son, Lelouch and who also put a lot of effort into countless investigations into the assassination that proved futile.

After the war with Japan was over, Euphemia and Nunnally were declared dead and Rochelle had become rather infuriated over the loss of her daughter; so infuriated that she saw it fit to punish the people of "Area Eleven" as a means of revenge. However, since she was not the Viceroy, she could not do anything, so she constantly harassed and pressured Clovis, the current Viceroy into introducing new laws that would oppress the "Elevens" even further, though Clovis believed that her plan was to provoke them into rebelling in order to look for an excuse to kill as many of them off as possible.

That absolutely disgusted Clovis. Despite his outward image, he was not as ignorant and as arrogant as he made himself appear to be. In truth, he was not much of a leader, preferring his talent for art and wanted to take up painting. He only became Viceroy upon his father's insistence, plus the added threat of disinheritance if he refused. Unfortunately, his lack of leadership skills made it easy for Rochelle to manipulate him. He felt like he was nothing more than a puppet with Rochelle as his puppeteer, pulling his strings and that notion terrified him. If anything went wrong with her plans, he would be the one who would ultimately pay the price. To avoid public suspicions, he had come up with a rather clever façade, hiding his feelings behind outward arrogance and ignorance.

As far as the "Numbers" went, he really did not mind them and would prefer it if he could make them happy… even if it was just to minimise the terrorist activity. Unfortunately, he knew that Rochelle would chew him up and spit him out if she caught wind of him trying to introduce pro-"Number" legislations. It was because of Rochelle that he had lasted this long as Viceroy. She was the one who arranged everything he needed for his façade, as it also meant it kept the public from knowing that she was the one who truly held power here.

"Y-your Highness, Lady Rochelle," a voice came, bringing Clovis out of his thoughts as he turned to see a pudgy bald-headed solder wearing a monocle over his right eye came running towards him and Rochelle.

"Huh, a soldier," the man leaning against the wall behind the journalists said quietly as he noticed the man running right past him.

"Gad, how boorish of you," Clovis said in a scolding tone

"I beg you're pardon Your Highness; My Lord, My Lady," the soldier said as he proceeded to tell them what was wrong.

"Not another appearance for him," the man leaning against the wall said, looking towards Clovis before he turned to leave; clearly unable to stand being in his presence any longer, "I hope it's not a dreary…"

"You fool!" he heard Rochelle exclaim, causing him to stop and turn back to look on curiously.

"The police were informed that it was medical equipment, that's all," the soldier spoke, keeping his voice barely above a whisper, "If we scramble the army, there'll be a…"

"Deploy the Royal Guard; the Knightmares as well," Rochelle said in a demanding tone, unknowingly raising her voice.

"N-n-now wait a m-minute…" Clovis said in an attempt to protest.

"You know as well as I do that we can't have this little project of ours making it into the public domain," Rochelle interrupted him in a quiet, yet harsh tone, "You know what will happen if knowledge of this was be made public."

Clovis opened his mouth to protest, a after a small glare from Rochelle, closed it and shook his head with a sigh.

"Do as she says Bartley," Clovis said in a defeated tone.

* * *

Not long afterwards in a Knightmare hanger, an alarm sounded as the Knightmare pilots made their way to their knightmares.

"Alert one, alert one," an electronically recorded voice said, "Fourth, seventh and eighth rapid rapid-reaction companies, as well as the thirty-first air-assault team, immediately scramble. Special division nine stand by for deployment."

Two pilots; Jeremiah Gottwald and his second-in-command of the Pureblood Faction, Villetta Nu both got inside their Knightmares; Sutherlands ready for their next mission whatever it may be as they started up their Knightmares.

* * *

Meanwhile, Rivalz and Euphemia were on their way back to Ashford Academy as Rivalz drove along the highway with Euphemia reading a book. So far the trip had been quiet; however, unable to take the silence any longer, Rivalz decided to start a conversation.

"That first move you made," he started, referring to Euphemia's chess match with Mr Spacer as Euphemia raised her head from her book, "Why'd you start with the king?"

"Like I told Mr Spacer, I learned how to play chess from my late half-brother, Lelouch and you know what he taught me?" she replied in an uninterested tone.

"What?" Rivalz asked curiously.

"If the king does not lead, how can he expect his subordinates to follow?" Euphemia replied, clearly wanting to go back to reading her book.

"What's with that?" Rivalz replied in confusion.

"With what?" Euphemia responded with a shrug.

"Do you fantasise about running a major corporation?" Rivalz asked with interest.

"No way, ambitions like that will ruin you health," Euphemia replied with a hint of frustration, "Now can you please be quiet? I'm trying to read."

Rivalz opened his mouth to replied, but the beeping of a horn caught the duo's attention, causing them to look behind them and they saw a really big truck speeding towards them.

"WAH!" Rivalz shrieked as he panicked and moved to get out of the truck's way as quickly as possible, "We're gonna die!"

* * *

Inside the truck, the driver noticed the motorcycle in front of them and growled in anger. This was just perfect. They finally stole something from Britannia that they were planning on using against them; they had been caught much sooner than they predicted and now a motorcycle was blocking their escape.

"You idiot, watch where you're going!" the driver growled dangerously as he turned the steering wheel in an effort to avoid hitting the motorcycle.

"No, not that way," his female passenger screamed in alarm, turning to face him as she realised in his haste, he had taken a wrong turn.

The truck went off down a side road to the left, knocking over some traffic cones and crashed through a barrier and into a construction site. The driver hastily tried to perform a U-turn, but the truck skidded into the side of a wall with the impact causing the door on the roof of the truck's container to open.

* * *

Rivalz skidded to a halt as he turned to witness the dust rising from the construction site where the truck had crashed.

"Ah, was that our fault?" he asked Euphemia in a dumbfounded, confused tone.

"I don't think so," Euphemia replied with a scoff, "It's his own damn fault for driving too fast. He could've killed someone."

She then looked up, noticing a police aircraft hovering nearby as if observing the scene.

* * *

"Control, the target has crashed at the abandoned VO building construction site," the pilot of the nearby police aircraft reported as he witnessed the scene unfold.

"The military will take over, General Bartley's command," the voice on the other end of the radio said.

"Him?" the pilot asked in shock, clearly not expected that answer.

* * *

Bartley Asprius walked down a corridor of the Viceroy Palace with a seriously furious look on his face. He was furious that the people in charge of the project that Lady Rochelle and Prince Clovis were working on had allowed it to fall into the hands of terrorists and he could not help but shudder to think of the consequences in knowledge of what it was they were working on managed to make it out into the public domain.

"We have to retrieve it at all costs; that thing," he thought furiously, "In the wrong hands…"

He trailed off, not even wanting to think about that possibility. The project was top secret and he knew that the terrorists obviously had mistaken it for something else, but still… the powers involved with the project were totally out-of-this-world and in the hands of terrorists, Bartley feared that those powers could be used to overthrow the Holy Britannian Empire and that was something he was going to prevent no matter what the cost.

* * *

Back at the construction site, Euphemia made her way over to the side of the road overlook the site as the sun's glare caught in her goggles

"What the…?" she said in a confused tone, taking off her helmet as she looked down as saw what appeared to be particles of light rising through the dust as it started to settled.

For a brief moment, Euphemia could have sworn she saw the particles of light come together and take the form of a transparent girl, but it was so brief and the particles then split apart and vanished, leaving Euphemia to wonder if it had been her imagination or perhaps a trick of the light since the glare of the sun had hit her goggles, but deep down in her mind, she knew that there was something else going on.

"Oh man, this sucks," Rivalz said as he inspected the motorbike, "Looks like the power line on the bike got cut."

"Yeah," Euphemia said, still in a confused tone as she removed her goggles to get a better look before speaking in a louder voice, "Rivalz, come check this out."

The voices of bystanders caught her attention as she looked to her right and saw people starting to gather and make comments and take pictures, not bothering to go and see if the occupants of the truck needed help, though she overheard one man making that suggestion, but was ignored.

"Oh, those idiots," Euphemia thought bitterly at witnessing their uncaring attitude as she glared at them, "I'm not like them."

Did they not realise that the driver could be seriously hurt and in need of medical attention? However, as she continued to watch the people gather and listen to their uncaring comments about how it was probably a drunk driver and other banter, she felt herself wretch. Those uncaring idiots seemed to believe that whoever was in the truck deserved what had happened and though she had to admit that the truck had been speeding, that was no reason to leave the occupants in need of help.

Unable to take the comments any longer, she threw her helmet and goggles into the motorcycle's pillion and ran down to see if she could help.

"Hey wait Euphie," Rivalz called out as he noticed her leave, but she completely ignored him.

* * *

Inside the truck, the driver and his female passenger were starting to recover as they struggled against the airbags that were pushing up against them.

* * *

Outside, Euphemia ran up to the truck as the people continued to make their comments.

"Look, the student rescue team has arrived," one man joked after seeing Euphemia.

However, Euphemia ignored him and the others as she rushed up to the cab, which was lodged behind the wall and Euphemia found that she was unable to get through.

"Hey, are you alright?" she called out.

No reply came and Euphemia started looking around for another way to get to the cab and the occupants. As she started to run to the other side, she noticed a ladder on the side of the truck's container and then moved to climb up for a quicker way round.

* * *

Meanwhile, Rivalz was stuck pushing his motorcycle, clearly not happy with Euphemia choosing to go and help the occupants of the crashed truck. In his opinion, it was their own fault for driving too fast in the first place. However, he did reason that regardless of whose fault it was, it was still right to go and see if they were in need of help, but that did not mean to say he wanted to. After all, they both had a class to get back to at school and Euphemia's decision to help would no doubt cause them to be late.

"Yeah, yeah, I know that it's the right thing to do," he complained in a dissatisfied tone to no one in particular as he pushed the motorcycle, "But I wish that girl would quit flaunting her pride and give it a rest for a while. Now we're gonna be late to school."

* * *

Inside the truck, the airbags started to deflate and the male driver had been rendered unconscious with his female companion looking on in concern.

"Nagata," she said in hurried alarm, "Nagata."

The driver, Nagata groaned as he started to regain consciousness.

* * *

Outside, Euphemia had reached the top of the truck and looked for a way to the cab from the roof, but found none.

"Can you hear me?" she called out into the building, "Are you okay?"

For a brief moment, an image of a dark blue background flashed before her eyes with multicoloured streaks highlighting a path in front of her.

"It's you," she heard a female voice echo in her mind, "Finally, I have found my…"

The voice trailed off, sounding rather faint and weak, but it left Euphemia looking around in confusion.

"W-where…?" she asked herself in a quiet voice, unsure what to make of it.

However, as she continued to look in confusion and noticed an opening in the roof, she failed to hear the engine of the truck start back up.

"Are you in there?" she shouted into the opening, wondering just where that voice had come from and wondered if the woman was inside.

The sound of skidding tires brought her back to reality. However, the truck violently reversed out of the building, causing Euphemia to fall inside the container head-first.

* * *

**Author's Notes **– Well that's chapter one down and I know that it's mostly just a copy of the anime with Euphemia in Lelouch's place, however as you can see from the extra scenes and the introduction of Rochelle, I don't want just a story that basically copies the anime. As for the name of Cornelia and Euphemia's mother, Rochelle, their mother's name was never revealed in the anime. The only other two consorts beside Marianne whose names were revealed where Clovis's mother and Odysseus's mother. As for the reason why Rochelle's here, I want Cornelia to have an extra incentive for hunting Euphemia down (though she won't know its Euphemia she's hunting) and Rochelle's perfect for providing that and I seriously have plans for Clovis that don't involve him dying. I wanted him as Rochelle's puppet ruler as an excuse for Euphemia to spare him. I urge you all to give this fic a chance. It may follow the anime right now, but there will be differences and Euphemia won't be called Zero. Her alias will be f a different name altogether and don't be afraid to review. I know this is different, but like I said, Euphemia won't be a female Lelouch despite, as you have seen, I've had her say Lelouch's lines in the anime. He reaction to death will be different and some of her cannon personality will remain. It's just that her father sending her off with Nunnally has woken her up to reality and she's more open-minded.


	3. The girl in the capsule

**Code Geass – Euphemia of the Revelation **

**The girl in the capsule**

**Disclaimer **– Code Geass is the property of Sunrise, Bandai Entertainment and Ichiro Okouchi, so I don't own anything afflicted with Code Geass.

* * *

**Warnings **– Strong language, strong violence, Euphemia OOC (obviously), yuri, possible lemons in later chapters (unsure)

* * *

Euphemia Lamperouge who in reality was really Euphemia li Britannia, Third Princess of the Holy Britannian Empire was currently in a world of trouble. After she and Rivalz narrowly avoided getting run over by a speeding truck on the way back to Ashford Academy after a chess match with a nobleman, Euphemia had gone to help the truck after it had crashed into a construction site. However, as she tried to help, the driver had apparently recovered and Euphemia ended up falling through an opening on the roof of the container and was falling to the floor head-first. However, somehow the movement of the truck caused her to tumble in midair and she landed on her back and was jerked into a sitting position.

"Stop, I'm in here!" she shouted desperately to no one in particular, hoping that the driver of the truck had heard her.

However, it was all in vain as Euphemia felt the truck move forward; the force, throwing her against a wall.

* * *

Meanwhile, Rivalz who was with the motorcycle saw the truck drive up, not knowing that Euphemia had accidentally fallen into it.

"So would you call that a hit and run?" he asked no one in particular in a curious tone.

The truck's left tire drove over a bump as it started to speed away.

* * *

The bump was felt inside the truck, throwing Euphemia back into the wall before she had a chance to recover from the last thrust into the wall. Inspecting the inside of the truck, she was disappointed to find that there was no ladder on the inside, though she did notice a dome-shaped black capsule to the right of a door leading into the cab. She found the capsule strange as it appeared segmented and each segment had two strange cylinder shaped appendixes protruding from them near the top at diagonal angles and their were also pipes attached to it. She could not help but wonder just what was inside the capsule, though for the moment she was more worried about getting out of her current situation.

"You'd think they'd stick a ladder on the inside to," she said to herself as she started to climb the capsule.

"Stop the vehicle!" a loud voice boomed from outside, causing Euphemia to stop as he eyes widened in horror at a sudden realisation.

"Shit, terrorists!" she exclaimed, cursing her bad luck.

* * *

Outside, the truck was speeding down the highway as three military VTOL Gunships appeared behind it and started following it.

"Surrender now and you'll get the chance to defend yourselves in court," the voice went on, "Stop and surrender at once."

This was followed up by machine-gun fire from the lead gunship's machine gun situated at the front and at the bottom underneath the cockpit. The shots were clearly warning shots as they were aimed at the tarmac behind the truck, but Nagata, the truck's driver swerved across the highway anyway in an attempt to shake them off.

"Give up now, or we'll shoot to kill," the voice, which was the pilot of the lead gunship warned.

* * *

"Now what'll we do?" Nagata said furiously; furiously that they were now in this bind, "That's the army."

"Have you forgotten, that's what I'm here for," his female companion said, removing her cap and revealing her dark reddish pink hair that fanned out to the sides with two shoulder length bangs at the front on either side of her head and dark aqua blue eyes.

She also wore a red headband.

The truck then drove into a tunnel.

* * *

Inside the container, Euphemia cursed her luck that she had been caught up in a terrorist incident. However, she quickly calmed down and after taking a deep breath, she started to consider her options at how she was going to get out of this mess. She did know one thing though; if the terrorists caught her, they would undoubtably kill her since she was Britannian; even if she did just happen to get caught up in their scheme by accident, she knew that many terrorists probably saw all Britannians the same, regardless of who they were. To them, Britannians were the oppressors of the Japanese that had to be extinguished and that would undoubtably include her as well.

Not that she blamed them for thinking that way. The majority of Britannians living in the settlements did regard the "Elevens" with disdain and revulsion. It was only natural that the Japanese would feel bitter loathing for Britannians. After all, it was their country that Britannia had invaded and took from them and they, being the natives had been demoted to something that was considered even less than human and that absolutely sickened Euphemia to no end.

Unfortunately, her bitter feelings towards her own people would not help her get out of this situation. If she could guess correctly, these terrorists would probably shoot her on sight first and ask questions later and unfortunately, she could not jump out with the military chasing the truck down, plus with the speed the truck was travelling at, her landing would not be a pleasant one.

"If I jump out, I have the choice of breaking my neck or getting shot," she mused to herself as she considered something, "I can try to call…"

A hissing sound interrupted her as she looked towards the door to the cab as it opened and Euphemia immediately hid behind the capsule as she saw a girl pass her by.

"Can you enter the subway via the Azabu route?" the girl said, speaking to the driver as she discarded the light blue jacket she was wearing, revealed a combat-oriented outfit underneath.

"Kallen," Euphemia heard the driver shout as she saw the girl about to ascend a flight of stair, "Let's use it here, why not?"

The girl, Kallen stopped and turned back to look at the door.

"Because that would mean a bloodbath," she shouted back before continuing her ascent.

Euphemia heard the driver growl in dissatisfaction as he reluctantly agreed with his colleague.

"You're right," he said, absolutely defeated, though from the sounds of it, he was not too pleased with it.

Euphemia turned her attention back to Kallen and her eyes widened as she had a sense of déjà vu while looking at her.

"I'm sure I've seen her before," she thought to herself, keeping absolutely quiet, "But I just can't remember where."

What surprised her was, not only did this Kallen girl appear as old as Euphemia herself was… perhaps a year or two older, but she also looked as if she were Britannian, though Euphemia easily put that down to being a half-blood; someone who had a Britannian parent and, in this case, a Japanese parent and it surprised her that a half-blood was fighting for Japanese terrorists.

Normally, half-bloods were frowned upon by both sides… effectively being labelled as outcasts by both Britannians and natives of their non-Britannian parent's country; Britannia not accepting them because they see half-bloods in general; especially those of "Numbered Areas" as contaminated goods and the other side because of their Britannian blood. It surprised Euphemia that this girl was accepted into this terrorist group. It must've been because she either grew up with them before the invasion and they knew her well enough not to be disgusted by her mixed blood or she or one of her relatives on the Japanese side of her heritage was friends with one of their members or perhaps the said relative was a member him/herself.

She suddenly eyed a communicator in the pocket of Kallen's discarded jacket and decided that she could probably make use of it in order to get her out of this mess.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the construction site, Rivalz, who was unaware of Euphemia's current predicament, brought his motorcycle down to where the truck had been and he was currently looking for Euphemia.

"Hey Euphemia, come on, where are you?" he called out with his hands at either side of his mouth, "We've gotta get to school."

However, his calls went unanswered.

* * *

Meanwhile, the truck continued driving along the highway with the military still in hot pursuit.

"Target is moving from the settlement towards the ghetto," the pilot of the lead gunship reported.

"Copy that," the voice on the other end of the radio said in acknowledgement, "Corner 'em."

"Roger," the pilot replied as he aimed the gunship's machine gun at the truck.

However, before he could open fire, the familiar shape of a slash harken shot out of a gap in the door of the back of the truck at his helicopter, completely destroying it and killing him the process.

"A slash harken," the pilot of the gunship that had been to the leader's left commented with evident fear laced in his voice as he and the other pilot witnessed the back of the truck open up, revealing a dark reddish pink Knightmare.

"A Knightmare!" the frightened pilot exclaimed as the Knightmare jumped out of the truck and onto the road, though it took a few seconds for it to find its balance.

* * *

Inside the truck, Euphemia ran up towards the back door just as it was closing.

"Oh crap, why me," she exclaimed with a hint of fear in her voice, "Those guys are real-deal terrorists."

Once the door closed, Euphemia went back to pondering her situation.

* * *

From inside the Knightmare's cockpit, Kallen glared up at the pursuing gunship with hate and disgust in her eyes.

"You guys know full-well what this badass motherfucker can do," she said and she drove the Knightmare forward in a zigzag manoeuvre and fired off her slash harkens at the remaining two gunships.

* * *

The slash harkens connected with one of the gunships, but then a Knightmare VTOL; a VTOL craft designed for transporting Knightmares with the design of a fighter jet… or at least the cockpit was shaped like that of a fighter jet.

"The rest of you back off," a man's voice boomed from the aircraft, "I'll take this guy."

The slash harkens of Kallen's Knightmare returned to their original positions as Kallen looked up and saw that the VTOL craft was actually transporting a Knightmare Frame.

"I can only assume that you dug that obsolete relic out of some scrapheap," the voice continued to boom as the craft released the Knightmare, a purplish blue Knightmare with the front of its head and shoulders painted red, "An over-the-hill Glasgow is no match for a Sutherland."

Kallen fired off her slash harkens, only to have them deflected by the enemy Knightmare's slash harkens. As the enemy knightmare landed with its back to her, it suddenly spun to face her as its slash harkens recoiled, moving like whips.

* * *

"Not to mention a filthy Eleven that spurns the compassion of our glorious Emperor," the enemy Knightmare's pilot, Jeremiah Gottwald, who had been the voice talking said as he readied his Knightmare's assault rifle and fired into Kallen's Knightmare, scoring a hit and causing Kallen to manoeuvre her Knightmare to prevent it from falling over.

* * *

In the cockpit of Kallen's Knightmare, Kallen gritted her teeth as she tried desperately to avoid falling over. She knew that her Knightmare, which was a known as a Glasgow was no match for the enemy Knightmare, a more advanced model known as a Sutherland. This was bad. The group had sacrificed so much just to get this one Knightmare, despite it being obsolete in order to use against Britannia. Like the enemy pilot had said, they had managed to salvage it from a scrap yard and rebuild it. However, Britannia had more advanced models at their disposal, like this Sutherland and against even one of them; Kallen knew that she stood no chance. She just hoped that more would not show up, since even against one Sutherland; a Glasgow had no chance of victory.

"Kallen, we must both split up," she heard Nagata's voice over a radio within the cockpit, "Both of us can't risk being killed. Run for it!"

"But…" Kallen started to protest.

* * *

Another Sutherland unfortunately emerged after travelling up the highway support beams and landed in front of the truck and fired its assault rifle at it. However, Nagata turned the truck down a side road before reaching the Sutherland and drove off, though the Sutherland did not follow.

* * *

"Hah, simple-minded Eleven," the Sutherland's pilot, Villetta Nu mused to herself with a laugh from inside the cockpit as she watched the truck drive off, deciding not to pursue, but that it was more fun to play a game of cat and mouse.

* * *

Back with Kallen and Jeremiah, the slash harkens from Kallen's Glasgow jammed and would not fire, obviously having suffered damage from Jeremiah's connected shot.

"No way, it's stuck," Kallen exclaimed as she hurriedly moved her hand over other controls.

"Second-hand junk," Jeremiah said as he rolled his Sutherland in, using one of its stun tonfas, immediately above its hand and brought it down on Kallen's Glasgow. However, the left arm of the Glasgow suddenly shot off towards Jeremiah and into the path of his attack, taking the hit and then Kallen made her escape through the resulting smoke.

Inside the Sutherland's cockpit, Jeremiah had an impressed look on his face as he had been caught off guard at the enemy pilot's willingness to sacrifice their Knightmare's arm to make their getaway.

* * *

"I'll admit, I really like your spirit," he complimented before his face twisted into a sadistic grin, "However…"

* * *

Meanwhile, Euphemia was still pondering over her situation in the back of the truck as she sat down and tried using her cell-phone. Unfortunately she was unable to get a reception and she was guessing at where she was.

"No cell-phone reception," she said to herself, as she endured her bumpy ride, "We're out of range. Judging from the darkness and road surface, we must be driving along the old subway lines. They're headed for an exit somewhere in the ghetto. Getting out would be dangerous. Still…"

She eyed Kallen's communicator that was in her hand and cringed at what she had decided to do.

"Okay I've got it," she went on, "I'm not big on the military, but I'll take their protection for now. If I give them a terrorist communicator… uh, wait, I forgot."

She hated having to rely on the military as they were the forces that her father commanded. However, desperate times call for desperate measures and unfortunately, she knew that she had little option at this point. She would do anything to get out of this horrible situation that she had gotten herself into, even if that included contacting the military and giving them the terrorists' location. She knew that a Britannian in the ghettos was most likely to end up dead as the residents did not take too kindly to their presence. She heard stories of Britannians who foolishly ventured into the ghettos and were never seen or heard from again. She had little doubt that the residents had killed them.

"Damn it, why do things have to end up like this?" she thought bitterly as she clenched her eyes shut, unable to stand it.

* * *

Meanwhile, Rivalz had left the construction site and was currently pushing his motorcycle along the side of the road back to Ashford Academy.

"Some friend, leaving me behind like that," he complained to no one in particular, clearly not happy that Euphemia had apparently deserted him.

* * *

Meanwhile in military base near to the Viceroy Palace, Bartley was confronted with Lloyd Asplund, the head of Special Corp who was currently staring at him right in his face with an impressed look on his face.

"Ah ha," Lloyd said in an interested tone.

"What are you doing?" Bartley asked in a dumbfounded tone.

He clearly did not like this man to say the least. In truth, he felt that this man was a major annoyance to everyone he met. Lloyd Asplund seemed to be the sort of man that managed to get under everyone's skin without even trying with his comments and strange facial expressions.

"Looking at a man who blundered, am I right?" Lloyd replied as a few tanks passed by in the background.

"Why you…" Bartley growled, gritting his teeth as he restrained himself from punching the man right in the face.

Seriously, what was with this man? It was as if he was deliberately trying to provoke people to take a swing at him.

"You really screwed this one up," he went on, not caring for Bartley's disapproval of his presence as more military weaponry passed by in the background, "Terrorists came along and stole whatever it was you, Prince Clovis and Lady Rochelle were secretly working on. Retrieving it is simple, but you want to sweep up all of their compatriots in addition. Let the terrorists go and you can find their hideout to."

He then flashed Bartley a smile before turning to his assistant, Cecile Croomy who was currently standing behind him.

"Congratulations, your reasoning was spot on," he said to her, causing her to look on in surprise.

"I-it was nothing, I just thought it was strange," she replied after regaining her composure and giving him a polite bow.

"Okay that's enough, just what it that the Special Corp wants out of this?" Bartley asked, fighting to keep his composure and wishing this insufferable lunatic would just get to the point so he could leave.

"I'm merely saying that I would like to assist with the cleanup," Lloyd replied, as he leaned over making a strange posture.

"To assist?" Bartley asked questioningly with genuine curiosity, also laced with a hint of suspicion; suspicion that this crackpot was after his project.

"Correct because it's data I want," Lloyd replied, which did nothing to diminish Bartley's suspicions; in fact it only caused his suspicions to increase.

Just how much did this man know anyway and if he knew more than he should, just how did he get his hands on that information? Of course, he could just be paranoid and his paranoia was mixing in with his own dislike for the man, but with Lloyd Asplund, one could never be too sure.

"Excuse me," Cecile spoke up, as she looked up at Bartley, "But what in the world have they just stolen anyway.

Bartley hesitated for a moment as he glared ahead and then he sighed.

"Chemical weapons," he said in a low voice, "In other words, poison gas."

That was a lie, but the less people knew about the truth the better. In truth he had nothing against Cecile and pitied her for having to work with and tolerate her nutcase of a boss all day. How she managed to do it without being driven insane was beyond him, though he had a feeling that her quiet nature and shy look was an affect of being with that man for prolonged periods of time. However, Cecile put his mind to rest somewhat and caused his suspicions to lessen, though he was still on guard in case Lloyd did suspect something and was looking to uncover the truth in order to take over the project himself.

Lloyd was a hard man to read and it was difficult to determine what his ambitions were. Bartley knew that he could not afford to drop his guard while around this man because who knew what went on in that twisted mind of his?

* * *

As the truck continued its path underground, above ground in the ghetto that had once been Shinjuku, one of twenty-three of Tokyo's special wards and an old commercial and administrative centre before the Britannian- led invasion, the residents were going about their daily lives, foraging for whatever they could find. The Shinjuku ward had nothing of interest fir the Britannians and so they left it in ruins when they built the Tokyo Settlement and drove the Japanese out. Some had taken refuge in the ruined buildings of Shinjuku and turned them into make-shift houses and thus Shinjuku was reclassified a ghetto since it was an area where "Elevens" lived and had no interest to Britannians whatsoever.

Live was hard for the people living in the ghettos, since food and water was mostly scarce and the living conditions were no different than those of slums. Some died having succumbed to illnesses and diseases, and yet, the people still managed to get by, making ends meat, thankful for what little they had. What they had was not much, but to poor people such as them who had been driven out of their homes and now living in oppression, it was better than nothing.

However, the peace of the ghetto was disturbed when the residents caught sight of Britannian military VTOL aircraft. This made many of them nervous as in the past sometimes the Britannians would move into the ghettos and drive the residents out in order to extend their settlements to make more living space whenever they felt that the settlements were getting too crowded. This act was not that common, but news of past incidents had spread among the Japanese and they knew that a military build-up was not good since the Britannians always used their military to clear out the ghettos.

One child even hid behind her father while tugging onto the bottom of his shirt as her father placed a comforting hand on her shoulder as they both, along with the other residents saw soldiers being lowered to the ground.

"The terrorists are hiding in the subway system," a came over the soldiers' communicators as they were being lowered, "Your mission is to locate the weapon that they've stolen. Investigate the old subway system that runs through the Eleven residential district in the Shinjuku Ghetto. Report in the moment you spot them. Recovery of the target will be handled by us, the Royal Guard. You people bare the honorary title of Britannians, but you were born Elevens; therefore the stench of these monkeys aught to be a familiar one. If you want to earn the right to carry arms then show some results…"

After the soldiers touched down, they made their way to the entrances of the old subway stations as the residents all scrambled to get out of their way. Sure they could probably try and attack them like they had many foolish Britannian civilians that had ventured into their territory, but since they were soldiers, they figured that it was not a good idea since it would no doubt incur the wrath of the entire military upon the entire ghetto, so they just ran off and hid, hoping that the soldiers would leave.

* * *

Up in a white and red VTOL Transport near the back of the many aircraft over the ghetto, the leader of the Royal Guard, who had been the one briefing the soldiers was just finishing up with his speech.

"This is your opportunity to show your loyalty to Britannia," he concluded in a professional tone.

"Yes, my Lord," came the voices of all the soldiers in unison over the communicator, causing the leader to smirk.

The Royal Guard under the command of Prince Clovis knew the truth of what the terrorists had really stolen, which was why they had told the soldiers to let them recover it. They were under the notion that the terrorists had stolen poison gas and were being used as bloodhounds to sniff out the terrorists and eliminate them while they; the Royal Guard came in and retrieved the target, leaving the clueless soldiers none the wiser.

For the retrieval, they had decided to use a unit that consisted of Honorary Britannians; people from conquered nations who had joined the Britannian military. It was a system that the Britannian authorities thought up as a means of controlling the "Numbers". "Numbers" with Honorary Britannian status were allowed to live in the settlements and were legally citizens of Britannia and given equal rights as the Britannians themselves.

However, it was a system that did not sit too well with a lot of Britannians and those "Numbers" with Honorary status were regarded by most as simple "Numbers" and were frowned upon for considering themselves as being their equals, especially when they proved to be just as good, if not better at certain things than they were, which many Britannians just could not stand. Many Britannians saw Honorary Britannians as an insult and a stain on their otherwise "perfect" society. The Pureblood or Purist Faction were among the worst factions for openly speaking out against the Honorary Britannian system, trying multiple times in the past to have it abolished and those with Honorary status were considered by their own people; those who could see through Britannia's illusion as traitors.

However, to the military, Honorary Britannians were excellent cannon fodder and many of the higher-ups saw them nothing more than expendable pawns that they could easily cut off if they were ever in trouble. It was why the Royal Guard had sent in Honorary Britannians and not Pureblood Britannians. If one of the soldiers became too curious for his own good and discovered the truth, then it would be easier silencing him than it would be if he was a natural-born Britannian. Honorary Britannians were a lot easier to dispose of once their usefulness expired and with that in mind, the Royal Guard General smiled. No one would spill tears over the loss of an Honorary Britannian as they were born "Numbers" and was despised by many for considering otherwise and were regarded by their own as traitors.

* * *

Meanwhile, Nagata was still underground driving the truck as he searched for an exit. However, unfortunately a bullet from Viletta's Sutherland's assault rifle had smashed the windscreen and had hit him in his left shoulder, severely wounding him. He was driving with right hand on the steering wheel as his left arm lay limp at his side as blood poured out of his shoulder and he grunted, fighting to remain conscious.

Unfortunately, as he fought to remain awake, he failed to notice a massive hole in front of the truck and drove right into it. Luckily however, the hole wasn't big enough for the entire truck to fit through. However, unfortunately, it had become wedged in the ground.

* * *

The resulting impact was felt in the back of the truck, throwing Euphemia against the capsule, causing her eyes to widen in a mixture of surprise and fear.

"An accident?" she commented in wonder, wondering just what was going on outside before a fearful thought entered her mind, "Or else…"

* * *

The sound of the impact had also alerted a soldier who was searching nearby; causing him to turn his head in the direction of the noise and the visor of his helmet scanned the area ahead of him and he then rushed off in the direction of the noise.

* * *

Meanwhile, Nagata was fighting, not only to remain conscious, but also to free the truck from its predicament. He tried shifting the gear into reverse in an attempt to back up, but the front was so firmly wedged in the hole that it was useless. The truck was stuck and all that could be heard was the spinning of the truck's wheels from Nagata's futile attempts to free it.

"The tire's stuck," Nagata grunted weakly upon realising his attempts were useless and reached down to a switch with his left hand, "Please help me… find me…"

He then flipped the switch.

* * *

Outside, the door at the side of the truck opened up as Euphemia ran behind the capsule, unaware of the door opening, from inside the back. Unfortunately, the soldier who was nearby also spotted the door opening and using his visor as a scanner, he managed to get a close-up view of the capsule. He then activated his communicator, sending a signal to his superiors that he had found the target.

* * *

"4-0-4 has sighted the target," a voice came over a communicator on board the Royal Guard's VTOL Transport, which was hovering over the Shinjuku Ghetto.

"Roger, prepare for recovery," the General commanded.

* * *

Back down underground, the soldier noticed movement from the back of the truck as someone stood up and made their way towards the capsule. Believing that the person was intending to detonate it and release the poison gas he believed it contained, he immediately burst into action and ran towards the person.

* * *

Euphemia, still unaware that the door to the side had opened made her way over to the capsule, intending to use it to climb out of the truck via the opening in the roof that she had fallen through, as was her original plan. However, the military presence outside, plus the fact that the truck had been moving had caused her to wait till the truck came to a stop since even if she avoided the bullets fired from the military's hardware, she knew that it would still be risky jumping from a moving vehicle and no doubt, she would have ended up dead anyway; if not by getting shot then from the impact at landing on the ground at high speed.

"Now I can use this chance to climb up," she said to herself and she started to climb, but the sound of footsteps caught her attention, causing her turn to her left.

However, when she turned, she saw a lone soldier lunging right at her performing a martial arts style spin-kick. Euphemia raised her arms in front of her face in a defensive stance and the soldier's kick connected. However, the momentum from the attack sent Euphemia flying to the ground as the soldier landed on his feet.

"You're Britannian…" she started to say as she moved to get up, but the soldier immediately rushed over to her and grasped her by the collar, cutting off whatever she was going to say and slamming her back down and holding her down.

"That's enough mindless murder," the soldier said in a dangerously serious tone as his gasmask came off, revealing the bottom part of his face.

"Wait, I'm not one of…" Euphemia tried to explain, only to be silenced when the soldier pressed his fist, which had a hold of her collar against the bottom of her throat.

"Planning to use poison gas," the soldier went on, ignoring Euphemia as he applied even more pressure on her throat when she made another attempt to get up, "Don't play dumb with me."

"Get off me!" Euphemia shouted as she managed to deliver a kick that caused the soldier to release her and jump backwards, landing on his feet and dropping into an offensive stance, indicating that he was not done yet.

"I'm not here by choice," Euphemia started to explain; hoping the soldier would was willing to listen to reason as she knew that she was no match for a well-trained soldier.

In terms of combat, she was not much of a fighter. She never took up martial arts or any other self-defence classes, even while she was at the Kururugi Shine during her first month in Japan before her father decided to invade. She was not a person that liked to fight and did not see the point in it. However, despite vowing to bring down her father, she still did not attend self-defence classes and even dodged PE classes as Ashford Academy, feeling that they were too difficult and strenuous for her. With her lack of fitness and training, she knew that she was no match for even a lone low-ranked soldier. She preferred fighting through intelligence and strategy as opposed to brute force. That was how she intended to defeat her father and bring down Britannia; through cunning intelligence and not by steamrolling her way through her opposition using brute force as she knew that to do that would be suicide.

She then started to pick herself up off the floor.

"I'm not here be choice," she repeated, giving the soldier a sincere look as she started to walk towards him, "I admit that I did try to help them when they crashed earlier, but that was before I knew they were terrorists. My friend and I were on our way back to school when they came speeding towards us and they swerved to avoid us and ended up crashing. I went to see if they needed help and I was stupid enough to climb the trunk to find a way to get to them and then they recovered ad sped off with me having fallen in the back. That's the truth, I swear it."

She then paused and turned to look at the capsule, failing to notice the soldier's surprised look when she had stepped into the light.

"My god," he said in a tone of disbelief, staring at Euphemia for several seconds, unsure what to say.

"And if that's poison gas, it was made in Britannia, wasn't it?" Euphemia went on as she shot the soldier a glare, furious that he had mistaken her for a terrorist despite the fact that she would gladly fight against Britannia any day of the week, "Mindless murder… then why don't you just eradicate Britannia's corruption."

"Euphie," the soldier said, causing Euphemia to stop and stare at him in shock.

Just who was this soldier and how did he know her and more importantly, he had addressed her by her nickname, which was really surprising.

"It's me," the soldier went on as he removed his helmet, revealing a teenaged boy who looked no older than Euphemia herself with messy brown hair and green eyes, "It's me, Suzaku."

Euphemia's eyes widened in shock and disbelief as she remembered Suzaku, her and Nunnally's host's son whom they both befriended during their time at the Kururugi Shrine. Memories flashed before Euphemia or her and Suzaku having fun together and then of the last time she saw him as he looked down at the ground, refusing to acknowledge the devastation around him and she then knew that it was indeed him standing before her.

"You… you became a Britannian soldier," she asked in utter disbelief, unable to believe that her friend had joined the ranks of the nation she had vowed to bring down.

"Yeah, and what about you?" Suzaku asked curiously, "You're a…"

"What are you saying?" she asked, interrupting him, infuriated that he was still assuming that she was part of the terrorist group that had stolen the capsule.

However, before either of them could go on, a bright golden light shone from the capsule and the cylinders at the top moved upwards, being pushed from underneath, indicating that they were locks of some kind.

Euphemia's eyes widened in shock as she witnessed this. If that was poison gas, then they were in trouble since she had nothing to shield her nose and mouth from in, which meant that she was dead. However, she honestly did not believe that it was poison gas The capsule was too big and even if it was, why on Earth would it have such a spectacular release method? Something about this whole mess did not add up. However, she played it off by concluding that it was probably just some new kind of poison gas that was still in its experimental stages.

Before she could run however, Suzaku rushed towards her and brought her to the ground after removing his gasmask and slamming it onto Euphemia's face and he turned back to look along with Euphemia as the segments on the capsule fell backwards and the glow intensified and they both saw the silhouette of a long-haired girl throw her hair up and behind her as she fell backwards, apparently trying to exit the capsule.

"That's not poison gas," Suzaku said in surprise as the glow started to fade, revealing a girl with waist-length light green hair, "What is it?"

The glow surrounded the girl and from the looks of it, it was some kind of liquefied bubble. The bubble then exploded, leaving the girl unharmed and she turned to stare at the two onlookers with yellowish eyes, though the remnants of the glow may make them seem yellow, Suzaku and Euphemia guessed that they were orange or possibly light green. However the girl then closed her eyes, apparently falling into unconsciousness. However, the most shocking thing about this girl was that she appeared to be bound in some sort of white prison suit. The suit came up over her mouth with what appeared to be a dark grey belt running over the top of t, ensuring the girl could not speaking. Another belt held her arms at her sides running round her body just underneath her breasts and another belt ran round her thighs, binding her legs together. The ends of the sleeves of the suit were bound together with small grey belts very much like a straight jacket and the lower back of the suit came over to the front, covering the girl's feet.

"What the…?" Euphemia said in a tone of disbelief, unable to comprehend what was going on.

However, she quickly realised that something was not right about this girl. The suit she was wearing was not the same kind of suit that she had seen prisoners being paraded on TV in. Just who was this girl and more importantly, what could she have possibly done to deserve such treatment and why was she hidden away in that capsule? She doubted that she was some member of the Royal Family's love interest you refused his advances. It almost seemed like she was some sort of human guinea pig for some kind of science experiments, but if that was the case, then why?

* * *

Meanwhile, Kallen had managed to escape from Jeremiah and had taken refuge underground in a sewer. Her Glasgow remained stationary in the sewer with the front of its head opened up revealing a small dark grey dome with a light at the front. The light flashed from yellow to red and each time it changed from yellow to red, it sent a green circle running down the dome. It was known as a factsphere sensor; an advanced camera that relayed live thermographic images and data to the pilot and was usually protected under a retractable layer of armour; in the case of the Glasgows and Sutherlands; at the front of the heads. The factsphere sensor also allowed greater system sensitivity while retracted and Kallen had activated hers in order to detect movement in case the enemy found her since she knew that even though she had evaded them for the moment, she could not afford to drop her guard. She sat in the cockpit as she relayed what had happened to someone over the Glasgow's communicator.

"In all the confusion, I left it in the coat," she explained, referring to the fact that she had misplaced her communicator in the rush to get inside the Glasgow.

"It's okay," a voice, a man's voice assured her over the communicator, "The Glasgow's circuits are usable. So were we right?"

"Think so," Kallen replied as she rested her right wrist on her knee and held a piece of paper in her left, "I bet it's poison gas like intelligence said."

"And Nagata?" the man's voice asked curiously with a hint of worry in evident in his voice.

"I don't know," Kallen replied with equal concern in her voice, "I think he made it underground."

* * *

Meanwhile in the front of the truck, Nagata had unfastened his seatbelt and was now lying across both seats holding his side as he groaned at the pain he was currently experiencing as he waited to either be rescued by his cohorts or arrested or killed by Britannian forces. He knew that either could happen. However, if it turned out to be Britannians that found him… well, he had a rather nasty surprise in store for them. Of course, there was always the possibility that he'd bleed to death before anyone found him. He knew that his chances of survival were rather slim… and were getting slimmer by the second, but he had no regrets. After all, Britannia had taken everything from him, including his wife and child who were fatalities of the war. He had absolutely nothing to lose and therefore did not fear death. However, he would prefer that if he was going to die, then he could take as many Britannians with him as possible and drag them down to Hell with him.

* * *

Outside, completely unaware of Nagata's predicament, Euphemia and Suzaku were attending to the girl that had emerged from the capsule. Euphemia had taken a position behind her while Suzaku took a position at the front.

"Tell me the truth Suzaku," Euphemia spoke up in a rather confused, yet sincere tone as she moved to unfasten the belts round the girl's mouth, "Poison gas… this girl…?"

"Hey, it's what they told us in the briefing, I swear," Suzaku replied with genuine disbelief in his tone as he unzipped the front part of the suit covering the girl's feet, releasing her legs.

However, before Euphemia could reply, a light shone on them from behind Suzaku, causing both him and Euphemia to look in the direction of the light as Suzaku stood up.

"Stinking monkey," a man dressed in a general's military uniform said in a disgusted tone, "Being an Honorary Britannian will not excuse you."

"But sir, I was told this was poison gas," Suzaku said as he ran up to the man, who had at least nine or ten others standing behind him and behind them were two square-shaped flood lights, each one shining four light bulbs in each one at either side of the men.

"How dare you question orders?" the man responded in a harsh scolding tone before regaining his composure.

Euphemia looked on as she finally understood the situation.

"This is bad," she thought to herself, "I'm not meant to be here, which means that I'm a goner since this would pose a threat to Suzaku's superiors if it's unleashed and since Suzaku believed that it was poison gas as well…"

She finally understood that she had just gotten out of one bad situation just to end up in another and all because she had simply seen too much.

"However, in light of your outstanding military achievements, I'm going to be lenient," the general went on, holding a gun to Suzaku, "Private Kururugi, take this and execute the terrorist."

"She's not a terrorist," Suzaku protested, turning back to look at Euphemia and then back to the general, "She's a civilian who got caught up in all this."

"You idiot Suzaku," Euphemia thought, glaring at the general, "Can't you see that he probably already knows that?"

"You insubordinate little…" The general replied with anger in his voice as unbeknownst to anyone, Nagata stirred from inside the cab as he turned to look at a picture of himself along with a woman and child, obviously his late wife and child, "Didn't you swear your loyalty and life to Britannia?"

Euphemia continued to glare at the general, all the while wondering if Suzaku would actually bow to the pressure this man was putting him under and kill her.

"But…" Suzaku said, sounding unsure as he pondered whether or not to do it before making his mind up, "I can't."

That surprised Euphemia, but also made her fearful, as she knew that Suzaku was in just as much danger as she was, since he had also seen too much.

"What?" the general questioned impatiently in an infuriated tone, clearly not liking Suzaku's answer.

"I won't do it sir," Suzaku replied, reiterating his point as he turned to face Euphemia with a smile on his face, "I won't shoot a civilian. I can't follow your order sir."

"Suzaku, are you brain dead or something?" Euphemia shouted at the top of her voice, causing Suzaku to jump as he noticed Euphemia glaring at his superior, "He probably already knows that I'm not one of them, but that doesn't matter. Don't you see, you were told this was poison gas and instead, it's just a girl who I doubt is just a love interest who refused a member of the Imperial Family's advances and was probably been used for scientific experiments. Bottom line is, we've both seen too much. We're witnesses to something we were not meant to see and if it were to be made public, it could result in a scandal against someone of importance. Even if you did kill me, they'd probably just kill you next anyway because you also saw what you were not meant to see."

"Very perceptive of you girl," the general said, taking the gun he had in his hand and pressed it against Suzaku's back and fired a bullet into him before he had a chance to react or respond, though his eyes did widen in surprise.

"SUZAKU!" Euphemia screamed as she heard a muffled gunshot and then saw Suzaku fall to the ground, apparently dead.

"Well Britannian schoolgirl, not a good day to cut class," the general said in a mocking tone as he turned his attention to Euphemia and then to his subordinates, "Collect the girl; after you've secured her, kill the student."

"Yes my Lord," everyone else replied in unison in emotionless robotic like tones.

Euphemia continued to look on wide-eyed at Suzaku's dead body, unable to comprehend or believe that her friend had just been murdered before her eyes and why… all because he saw something he was not supposed to see and for refusing to follow orders because as he had said, she had been an innocent civilian who was only here due to her bad luck and stupidity. She found herself wishing that she had not gone to see if the occupants of the truck needed help. She wished that she had been part of those idiots in the crowd that had just stood, took pictures or made comments. She cursed herself for thinking like that and she cursed her own kind and caring nature. Sure, she could not stand the crowd that just stood by and did nothing while the occupants of the truck may have been in need of help, but now that she had discovered that they had been terrorists, she figured that she had been better off just standing by and watching, but being the kind and caring person she was, her conscience just would not have allowed her to do so and now it had led to her about to be killed by Britannian soldiers and all because she had seen too much of one of their skeletons in the closets.

The general smirked as he seemed to enjoy her expression of torment as she felt absolutely helpless. The general wore black boots, a brown military uniform with a red band running round his hat and draped over his left shoulder was a black cloth with a symbol that identified him and his subordinates as members of the Royal Guard, probably under Prince Clovis's command, she figured. Anyway, the general had dark grey hair and a beard the same colour at the front of his chin. He also had light blue eyes and a crescent shaped scar underneath his right eye. This man was clearing intimidating and he knew it.

* * *

Meanwhile, Nagata, who had heard the commotion outside reached over underneath the dashboard of the truck searching for the compartment containing his "surprise" as he guessed that Britannian forces were amassing outside He managed to reach his hand to the compartment.

"Death to Britannia…" he said, opening the door before pausing and stared at the photograph of his wife and child and gave it a brief smile, "Long live… Japan."

He then pushed a button inside the compartment and the red light above the button lit up.

* * *

Outside, flames started to emerge from the back of the cab before the entire cab exploded, causing the Royal Guard General to back away and cover his face with his arms as Euphemia recovered and used the explosion as a distraction to make off with the girl before the Royal Guard knew what had happened.

* * *

Above ground, an explosion was seen within the ghetto as a plume of smoke rose up from below.

* * *

**Author's Notes **– Another chapter done. Not one of my favourites, I can tell you that now. However, like I said before, I don't want a carbon copy of the anime with Lelouch's speaking lines going to Euphemia. I plan on having major differences between the anime and my fic… Rochelle being one of them. Next chapter will cover the massacre of the Shinjuku Ghetto and Rochelle's true personality, which will leave many of you wondering, just how the hell did Euphemia end up being a kind and caring girl as her father's the world's most powerful tyrannical monster and her mother has issues and a few screws lose in the head. Like I said before, please give this fic a chance. I know that I'm still in the first anime episode territory, which was a bit disappointing, but I'm just a "to-detail" kind of person. I was hoping to get to the point where Euphemia receives her Geass, though I'm unsure whether or not to give her the same kind of power Lelouch had or something similar, but difference as like I said, I don't want Euphie being a female Lelouch.


	4. Shinjuku Massacre

**Code Geass – Euphemia of the Revelation**

**Shinjuku Massacre **

**Disclaimer **– Code Geass is the property of Sunrise, Bandai Entertainment and Ichiro Okouchi, so I don't own anything afflicted with Code Geass.

* * *

**Warnings **– Strong language, strong violence, Euphemia OOC (obviously), yuri, possible lemons in later chapters (unsure)

* * *

Rochelle li Britannia stood in the Command Centre of a huge purple vehicle known as the G-1 Base as it rolled its way into the Shinjuku Ghetto. She was currently standing at the left hand window watching a plume of smoke rise from somewhere not all that far from their location. Behind her, General Bartley Asprius and a few of Prince Clovis's advisors stood congregating round a rectangular table with a 3-D map of the entire area on the top. Prince Clovis sat behind Bartley looking nervously over at Rochelle. Why did this woman have to come along with him? Sure, it was her project that the terrorists had stolen, but Clovis did not see the reason why she should be here. In all honesty, he would have preferred if she had stayed back at the Viceroy Palace or Government Bureau Building as it was commonly known as to the people. He absolutely despised and loathed this woman with a passion. She was the reason he was so unpopular among the "Elevens", she was the reason he could not get any pro-"Number" legislations through and above all, she was the reason he had to put on a flamboyant façade of ignorance and arrogance. He was nothing more than Rochelle's puppet and it disgusted him to no end. This woman had a hold over him.

Though she had never openly threatened him in the past, Clovis knew that Rochelle had him eating out of the palm of her hand. He was not much of a leader and Rochelle used this to her advantage, getting him to do things her way, which meant oppression the "Eleven" population as she blamed them for the death of her youngest daughter, Euphemia. Clearly she was out for revenge and Clovis guessed that she was trying to get him to provoke a rebellion in order to find the perfect excuse to kill as many of them off as she possibly could. It sickened him to no end. He could understand that she was upset about the loss of her daughter, but taking out her grief on an entire race of people… that was going too far. However, he could not bring himself to stand up to her as he knew she could easily ruin him and damage his reputation among the Britannian population to the point where they would undoubtably demand his resignation as Viceroy of "Area Eleven" and his disinheritance and that thought terrified him greatly.

"They got away," Bartley's voice came in an outraged tone, bringing him back to reality as he remembered that the leader of his Royal Guard had been reporting in, "And you call yourselves the Royal Guard?"

"Uh, forgive me my Lord," the leader's voice came over the communicator in an apologetic tone, "The blast was mainly directed upwards, but…"

"Why the hell do you think I only told you people about this?" Bartley demanded furiously, clearly not happy about the situation seeing that the target had been discovered and had somehow managed to escape.

"W-we'll continue the investigation," the Royal Guard leader said through the communicator.

"Hold on there," Rochelle said as she turned round, "Just what exactly happened?"

"Well m-my L-L-Lady, we found the target, but unfortunately the soldier who discovered it had seen the target; that is, the real target and it turned out that a Britannian schoolgirl was there as well, obviously having somehow gotten caught up in this mess," the leader explained, "I don't know how though, but she was clearly in the wrong place at the wrong time. I heard reports that the truck transporting the target had crashed. Perhaps the student had gone to help them and be a streak of bad luck ended up with the terrorists."

Rochelle sighed, shaking her head.

"Boy oh boy, a Britannian's involved now?" she said quietly with a sigh, "What is the world coming to?"

"We were going to eliminate her, but in the confusion caused by the blast, she made off with the target," the leader said.

"I see," Rochelle said in a serious tone, "And what of the soldier who discovered it?"

"Dead ma'am," the leader replied simply, "He was an Honorary Britannian, Suzaku Kururugi. The search squad was up of Honorary Britannians in case something like this had happened."

"Excellent," Rochelle replied as the edges of her lips twisted into a sadistic grin, "Anyway, that does not change the fact that you allowed the student to make off with the target. I want you to find and retrieve the target and kill the student along with any Elevens you happen to see."

"Understood my Lady," the leader said.

Clovis paled at hearing this. Rochelle was willing to order the death of an unlucky innocent just to keep the project quiet. However, as he opened his mouth to protest, Rochelle spoke up again.

"The plan has moved forward to the next phase," she said, causing Clovis's face to turn pure white with horror as he knew what she was planning.

"B-but my Lady," Bartley protested with a shocked look on his face.

"Lady Rochelle, I really must protest," Clovis said with a tone of authority as he stood up from his throne and shot her a serious look, "You seem to forget that I am acting Viceroy of Area Eleven, not you."

"And you seem to forget that if knowledge of this project gets out, you'll be the one who'll be getting the blame," Rochelle replied with an evil smirk on her face as she had been clearly prepared for Clovis's attempt to assert himself, "You'll be disinherited."

That worked as Clovis found his knees shaking with fear and his legs felt like jelly, causing him to wobble and fall back onto his throne with a look of defeat as he let out a sigh. True, he did not really know what it was that Rochelle was working on. Heck, even his most trusted advisors and General Bartley knew more about the truth than he did. However, Rochelle had talked… or rather tricked him into providing funds for her project and he knew that if news got out, he would be seen as an accomplice and with Rochelle… if what she had just told him was anything to go by, she would manipulate the evidence and the media to ensure that he ended up getting the full blame while she escaped unscathed. He knew that Rochelle saw him nothing more than an expendable pawn that could easily be replaced and no doubt, she would ensure that they would replace him with someone who was totally loyal to her and who would obey her without question.

"Very well," he said quietly before his face adorned a serious expression as he moved to stand up, "Tell them back home that we're carrying out a planned urban renewal here."

He then walked towards the steps that led down to where Bartley and the others were.

"As Clovis, Third Prince of the Empire, I command you," he went on with a serious look, though inwardly he was suppressing the urge to vomit at what he was doing, "Destroy Shinjuku Ghetto; leave no one alive."

He held his hand out towards the table as if to emphasise his point as Rochelle smirked.

"Excellent," she thought to herself, "All is going according to plan. No doubt when news of this spreads, it'll provoke Elevens everywhere to rebel against the Empire and when that happens, I'll have every single one of them wiped off the face of the Earth. Mark my words you disgusting monkeys, Euphemia will be avenged and you all will cease to exist."

Clovis went back to his throne and sat down, placing his face in his hands with his elbows resting on his thighs.

"Just what have I done?" he thought to himself miserably.

In truth, he did not want it to end in bloodshed. However, Rochelle had been determined to have things go her way and Clovis now realised why she had come along. She had been planning on having the entire ghetto wiped out all along. It did not matter to her whether they had the target or not. She was using this whole affair as an excuse to extract her revenge and kill off as many "Elevens" as she could. That Britannian student who made off with the target must have been a godsend for her, as it had given her the excuse to have the entire ghetto massacred, though he suspected that she would have found some way to lay waste to the entire ghetto anyway, even if the retrieval of the target had been successful.

"Forgive me Euphemia, Nunnally, Lelouch," he thought as tears started to roll down his cheeks, "Forgive me for my weakness."

He knew that his deceased siblings would be glaring down on him at the moment for allowing such an atrocity to occur, especially Euphemia since he knew her as being quite peaceful and would never condone such a merciless massacre and the irony was that the mastermind was none other than her own mother, but even so, he knew that he shared the burden of guilt as it was in his power to stop this madness, but unfortunately, he was too afraid of Rochelle to act as he knew what she could do to him if he tried.

"Just how could such a heartless witch have such a loving daughter?" he thought to himself as he shot Rochelle a disgusted look.

"Also, I would like cameras to be sent out so I can bare witness to this spectacle," Rochelle said to the advisors in a commanding tone, which caused Clovis to shiver in fear.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sutherland Knightmare Frames started pouring out of the G-1 Base as they started demolishing buildings and shooting at the residents with their assault rifles and other weaponry. The residents all screamed and tried to run for their lives, only to discover that it was useless as bullets pierced their bodies and they dropped to the ground like stones; men, women and children alike.

* * *

One elderly couple were in the process of gathering their things so they could evacuate their apartment. The man looked out the window in disbelief as he saw VTOL gunships pass by and shooting down at the people as they futilely tried to flee the onslaught.

"W-why are they doing this?" he asked in disbelief.

"Dear, let's go," the man's wife said in a panicked tone, clutching a bag in her arms.

They both then quickly made their way to the door.

"Uh, hurry," the man said in fright.

However, as soon as they opened the door, they were met with gunfire and their blood splattered against the wall and window opposite the door with some even landing on a table.

Two soldiers entered the room, searching for more people with their guns at the ready.

"Okay, let's sweep the next floor," one said upon seeing that there was no one else in the room.

* * *

Elsewhere, Britannian tanks and Sutherlands were firing off shells into the ghetto at the buildings, as they had been ordered to destroy the entire ghetto.

"The enemy is garbage that could never hope to become even Honorary Britannians," one of the commanders said over the communicators, "Wipe out every last one of them."

One Sutherland stepped in behind another that was firing off a giant Knightmare-sized bazooka known as a giant cannon.

* * *

"Naturally," the pilot, Jeremiah Gottwald said from inside the cockpit with an evil smile on his face.

"Supervisor Jeremiah," another commander's voice came over the communicator, "General Bartley requests that you take command of…"

"Bartley has staff officers," Jeremiah spoke over the man's voice, even as he was still talking, "I haven't had this much fun on the front lines in ages."

He then pointed his assault rifle in a random direction and started firing it as if to emphasise his point. As the leader of "Area Eleven's" branch of the Purist Faction, Jeremiah absolutely detested the idea of Honorary Britannians and saw the "Elevens" as nothing more than a waste of space that deserved everything they got just because they existed and he took great pleasure in torturing and killing many of them, so when orders to destroy the ghetto and slaughter every last person within it came, he was rather excited, like a child who could not wait to try out their latest toy… at least that's what he kept telling himself.

He could not forget what happened seven years previously. He had been a guard at the Aries Villa in the Britannian capital, Pendragon, home of the Fifth Imperial Consort, Marianne "the Flash" vi Britannia and seven years ago, she had been mysteriously assassinated along with her son, Lelouch leaving her daughter a paraplegic and blind from psychological trauma as she had been there as well and like Lelouch had been caught in the crossfire.

Since then, he had been riddled with guilt over his failure to prevent the assassination and in order to try and forget, he immersed himself in battle and slaughter. He used his hatred of "Numbers" and his own self-proclaimed war against them as a means of escape. Not the best way to handle it, but unfortunately he was allergic to alcohol and his immune system was highly resistant to any form of drugs, including the hallucinogenic Refrain, which caused people to relive memories of their past. He had tried it once, but it did not last all that long and so, he looked to battle and racial hatred as his means of salvation. A smirk appeared on his face as he continued to cause devastation. Oh yes, this worked perfectly for him.

* * *

Back in the G-1 Base, Bartley and the advisors were watching the progress on the 3-D map and Rochelle watched the monitor in front of the table as it showed split-screen images of the massacre. Seeing the people helpless and being shot to pieces was something she found thrilling. The screams of helplessness and fear and knowing that nothing would help them was like music to her ears. She had longed for this for seven whole years since the news that her youngest daughter, Euphemia had died in the war. Since then, she had been filled with nothing but anger and hate that she directed towards the "Elevens", blaming them for Euphemia's death. Of course, she knew that Euphemia had been sent with Nunnally, the daughter of her arch nemesis, Marianne, but Rochelle did not really care about her and in her opinion, Nunnally had deserved to die because she had commoner blood and was "that disgusting witch's" daughter and in her condition before she had been sent away, Rochelle figured that she was better off dead anyway. Anyway, she absolutely detested the "Elevens" and would settle for nothing less than seeing every last one of them wiped off the face of the Earth.

Unbeknownst to everyone else in the room, Rochelle had intentionally lessened security round her project, knowing that terrorists would steal it under the mistaken assumption that it was poison gas. She had been the one that had provided them with the intelligence in the first place; a new kind of experimental poison gas and now her plan was coming together. This had been what she had hoped for; that the terrorists would make it into the ghetto, giving her the excuse to have it completely wiped off the map. The fact that the girl had gotten away was just a bonus for her, though she did not expect a Britannian student to get caught up in it, but still, the life of one Britannian did not matter to her compared to her plan to eradicate the "Elevens". No one in the room knew that she would have ordered the destruction of the Shinjuku Ghetto anyway and Clovis would be the one to shoulder the blame… all part of her plan, which she had dubbed, "Operation: Eleven Genocide".

Watching the massacre unfold before her eyes brought a smile to her face, even seeing a child who had fallen in an attempt to escape and struggle to get up only to by shot to pieces by a Sutherland's assault rifle was rather invigorating to her. She started chuckling to herself, causing everyone else present to stare at her nervously with a hint of fear hidden in their eyes; fear which was well founded as her chuckling escalated quickly into full-blown psychotic maniacal laughter.

"Yes, that's it," she said in a psychotic tone, "Kill them all, murder them, butcher them, mutilate them. Don't stop until they're all dead. I want to see a bloodbath."

Bartley and the rest of the advisors all backed away from Rochelle staring at her fearfully as if she was some kind of monster. This woman was clearly insane.

Clovis watched the scenes of the massacre as his face became pure white with horror as he listened to Rochelle's insane laughter. Apparently, his thoughts were the same as his advisors. Rochelle was clearly insane and never before had Clovis been more afraid of anyone in his entire life. He somehow knew that if he did move to call of this senseless slaughter, Rochelle would probably kill him. Her attitude simply repulsed him. How could she take delight in watching people as they were mercilessly slaughtered without any way of defending themselves? Had Euphemia's death really affected her so much that she had traded in her humanity for a chance at revenge? It seemed too unreal to be true. He knew Rochelle had a bit of a reputation that even made the Knight of Ten, Luciano Bradley, the "Vampire of Britannia" and self-proclaimed homicidal genius because of his known bloodlust and tendencies to kill even his own allies tremble in fear, but he never imagined that it was this bad. He considered himself glad that Rochelle had his back to him because he did not want to see the psychotic expression that he believed adorned her face at the moment. Her laughter and glee at what was happening was terrifying enough. He knew right then and there that if Rochelle had not ruined his chances of gaining favour with the "Elevens" before, then she sure as well succeeded this time as he knew of the potential backlash that this would create; something that he now was certain that Rochelle was hoping for in her insane campaign.

"Euphemia, Nunnally, Lelouch, forgive me," he mumbled, knowing that he was just as much to blame for this than Rochelle herself was because he could stop it, but was too afraid to do so, fearing for his own life.

He had to wonder just how on Earth could a tyrant like his own father and a psychopath like Rochelle could produce such a kind-hearted and peace-loving daughter such as Euphemia. He knew that Euphemia would not want this, even if her psychotic mother was doing it all to avenge her. Euphemia would no doubt be absolutely disgusted with her mother, especially if she learned that she had done it for her. He only hoped that his deceased siblings would find it in their hearts to someday forgive him from wherever they were.

* * *

Meanwhile, Euphemia and the green-haired girl were running underground after Nagata's sacrifice had allowed them to escape from the Royal Guard. Sounds of military weaponry being fired and explosions could be heard above ground and orange flashes were seen through gaps in the walls It did no take a genius to guess what was going on and Euphemia deduced that someone had ordered the military to lay waste to the ghetto in order to cover the truth about what the terrorists had stolen up.

The girl ran behind Euphemia and caught her foot on a stone protruding upwards, causing her to stumble and fall to the ground.

"What on Earth are you?" Euphemia said, upon noticing the girl had fallen and stopped running before placing a hand up to her face, "This chaos is all your fault, isn't it?"

The girl just looked up at Euphemia with an unreadable look in her eyes.

"You pose such a threat to Clovis's reputation that he's willing to bury he entire ghetto just for fear of discovering you," Euphemia went on, unable to believe what was going on round about her, "ARGH! But not only that, Britannia has… even killed Suzaku, my very first friend when my half-sister and I first came here."

The girl continued to stare at Euphemia as a sympathetic look made its way into her eyes. Her arms were still bound as was her mouth, so she could not answer. Euphemia had considered undoing the restraints, but with the possibility of having the Royal Guard on their tails, not to mention the chaos going on above ground, she decided to wait till they were in a safe before doing so. Besides, Euphemia saw the girl struggling to free herself and from the looks of it, she knew what she was doing and could very well free herself if given enough time.

However, Euphemia's thoughts were elsewhere at the moment. Why was Clovis doing this? Sure, she knew Clovis to be a coward who would duck for cover at the first sign of trouble and use his forces as human shields, but she never thought that he would be a particularly violent person. She did not think that he would be the type that would order a massacre of the defenceless… duck for cover at the first sign of trouble, yes; but go in guns blazing and killing innocents… she never thought that was his style, but then again, it had been seven years since she had last socialised with Clovis and he had no doubt changed these past seven years. She knew that people could change. She herself had changed from a kind, peace-loving Princess of Britannia to a calculating strategist with nothing but hatred and contempt for her own Empire… or more specifically; her father. Still, she had some of her old qualities, which was the reason she had gone to see if the occupants of the truck had needed help and now she was in this situation, unsure whether or not she was going to make it out alive.

"Damn it," she cursed, slamming the side of her fist against the wall, speaking with fury in her voice, "Damn it to Hell, why is everything so screwed up?"

One thing was for sure though, assuming she made it out of this alive, she vowed that she would make Clovis pay for this. She just could not wait to see the look on his face when she approached him, alive and ready to kill him for this atrocity.

* * *

"Not there," Lloyd Asplund said in a disappointed tone from outside his vehicle, the Special Research Division Transport, which was situated right next to the G-1 Base.

"It looks like he's gone to the front line," Cecile explained simply.

"Even though we brought the Lancelot here?" Lloyd went on, still sounding disappointed and a bit furious. Lying at the back of the vehicle, which was a transporter of some kind was a huge gurney draped in a black tarpaulin cloth with a pair of metal white feet with gold at the bottom sticking out.

"Now what'll we do?" Cecile asked curiously.

"We steamrolled our way in here, but we don't have a devicer to use it," Lloyd replied, still disappointed as he held up a Knightmare-activation key in front of himself.

Cecile sighed as Lloyd continued to look disappointed. He had been hoping to use this opportunity to test of his latest creation, the Lancelot, a prototype Knightmare Frame for the seventh generation mass production models. Unfortunately the "devicer" that had been chosen had already gone to the front line deciding that he was more comfortable with a regular Sutherland, or at least that's how Lloyd saw it. Of course when he spoke with Bartley, he knew that he had been lying about what it was the terrorists had stolen and was probably paranoid that he was trying to get his hands on it, but in truth, Lloyd did not care much for whatever it was the terrorists had stolen. Let Bartley keep his secrets. The data he was after was battle data for the Lancelot, so he could discover how well it functioned in combat and what potential weaknesses it had so he could eliminate them.

"Huh," he said, noticing two soldiers hauling a third one out from underground on a stretcher, "What have we here? Do I spot a potential devicer in our midst?"

Cecile just rolled her eyes as she shook her head. In her opinion, this man was a bit of a child and obviously had a few screws lose in his head. She had to put up with his childish behaviour day in and day out and he would often throw childish tantrums whenever one of his inventions did not work the way he wanted it to. Like Bartley, Cecile had to wonder if Lloyd enjoyed getting under people's skin as he seemed to do that an awful lot with the leaders of the other factions within Britannia and from the looks of it; he was not even trying, though it did seem to excite him. Cecile often wondered how he had not driven her to insanity yet. He regarded those who tested his inventions in the past as part of the inventions themselves and not people. To him, a person operating his invention was part of it and would not allow anyone else other than that person to operate his invention and he hated it whenever he was forced to do so. Cecile often felt like hitting him over the head whenever he got like that.

"Good," Lloyd's voice came, bringing her back to reality, "I'll take it, how much?"

Cecile noticed that he had already walked over to the two soldiers handling their injured colleague and looked at the injured soldier as if he were a product sitting on a supermarket self.

The soldier himself was a Japanese teenager with messy brown hair and green eyes.

"But Lloyd, he's an Honorary Britannian," Cecile said with a hint of worry in her voice.

In truth she did not mind the "Elevens", regardless of whether they had Honorary status or not and she was sure that this boy was a fairly decent and respected young man, but she was more concerned about the potential repercussions from Lloyd's decision; especially if this Honorary Britannian proved himself indeed worthy to pilot the Lancelot since she knew that many Britannians hated non-Britannians who were just as good as, if not better than they were.

"Yes, I can clearly see that, I'm not blind you know," Lloyd replied, giving his assistant a questioning look, "Your point?"

"He was born an Eleven and you know how the military are about letting them near Knightmares," Cecile replied, giving the soldier a concerned look.

"I honestly don't care much for the military and their rules," Lloyd replied with a shrug, "Those pompous self-opinionated bigots at the top seem to believe that Britannians are the only ones with talent and can't stand it when they're proven wrong. I say that you should salvage good talent wherever you can find it, whether it's Britannian or not. The main reason why Honorary Britannians aren't allowed to pilot Knightmares in my opinion is because of those assholes at the top being afraid that they'll prove them wrong and upset their status-quo on non-Britannians."

"Well said," Cecile thought with a rare, but brief genuine smile, glad that she and Lloyd were in agreement over something.

"As for our situation here, we need a devicer for the Lancelot and if the higher-ups don't like my choice of pilot then I only have two words for them," Lloyd went on, feeling that he was on a roll, "And those two words are, "Piss off"."

Cecile giggled at Lloyd's attitude and knowing him, that was not just an empty promise. He was no doubt foolish enough to actually stand up to them and say that. It would definitely be a shock to say the least. She could just picture the looks on the faces of the said higher-ups if Lloyd actually went through with it.

* * *

Meanwhile, Euphemia and the girl had found a way above ground and were currently laying low on a staircase that led up to an abandoned warehouse. After navigating the underground mazes of the old subway systems, they had both somehow ended up in an abandoned basement storeroom.

"Stay quiet," Euphemia said to the girl, looking back at her as she cautiously moved to crawl up the stairs, "Wait here."

However, her progress was halted by the sound of loud gunfire, followed by the thud of a body hitting the ground. Euphemia kept quiet, not daring to move as she knew whoever fired the gun was up in the warehouse.

"Report," she heard the familiar voice of the Royal Guard General say as he walked into the warehouse where six of his subordinates were already standing.

"We found only Elevens here sir," one of the subordinates replied as the General walked further inside, letting out a frustrated groan.

"You're sure it?" the General asked, sounding rather frustrated; probably due to the fact that he was eager to get the target back as quickly as possible, "That exit comes out here?"

"Yes sir," the same subordinate that had answered before replied, "It matches up with our map of the old city."

Euphemia had poked her head out from the floor to see them and turned back to check on the girl, but was surprised when she heard the sound of a child crying. However, before she even had the chance to think, she heard gunfire, causing her to recoil and clench her eyes shut in horror as after the gunfire ceased, all she heard was a thud and then, silence.

"Those heartless monsters," she thought angrily, "He was just a child. He couldn't even defend himself; just what are you trying to prove?"

She then started to relax just as the soldiers were getting ready to leave. However, just as she started to feel safe, her cell phone started to ring and unfortunately for her, the ringtone was so loud that it echoed throughout the warehouse, alerting the soldiers to her presence.

Quickly taking out her cell phone, she checked the caller ID and as she suspected, it was Shirley Fenette; one of her friends from school, who seemed to have an obsession with her and openly disapproved of her gambling ventures and she also had a habit of calling up on her at the most inopportune times. Unfortunately, this time, Shirley's habit had no doubt sealed her fate.

"Of all the times to call Shirley, it just had to be when I'm in danger of being killed," she thought furiously as she answered her phone.

* * *

Meanwhile, Shirley was standing outside in Ashford Academy's courtyard, completely unaware of what was going on in the Shinjuku Ghetto and therefore unaware that she may have potentially signed Euphemia's death warrant. She was awaiting an answer on her cell phone and was relieved when Euphemia answer.

"Hey Euphie, where the…?" she started to say in a demanding tone.

"Piss off Shirley," Euphemia furiously angry voice came, sounding rather quiet and hushed, though Shirley heard her quite clearly before the sound of Euphemia hanging up came across the phone.

Shirley just stood there for a minute, unsure what to think, but then Euphemia's words finally reached her brain, causing her to bring her phone in front of her face and glare at it as if it was Euphemia as she clenched her fingers round it.

"Of all the no good…" she started ranting furiously to the phone, "Ooh when I see you next time Euphie, you are so dead."

* * *

Back at the Shinjuku warehouse, Euphemia grunted as she was smacked into a wall as more of the Royal Guard showed up, two soldiers claiming the girl and pointing there guns at her as she attempted to make her way towards Euphemia, stopping her. Euphemia regained her balance before she fell and glared back at the Royal Guard, or more specifically, the General.

"What an appropriate location for a terrorist to meet her end," the General boasted with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"You disgusting monstrous scum," Euphemia replied with fury in her voice, "Cowards."

"Still, you did well for a student, but that's to be expected," the General went on, totally ignoring Euphemia's insult, "You're a Britannian. Unfortunately my clever young friend, you have no future."

He then rotated his lower arm upwards in a ninety-degree angle, revealing a gun in his hand and got ready to fire.

"Idiotic scum, that's what you are," Euphemia spat as she scanned the area, looking for the child she heard screaming before he had been shot, but since she did not know what he looked like, she just motioned her head towards the first child's body she saw, "What are you trying to prove by killing defenceless children; that you guys are better than they are? Big deal, anyone could beat up a child."

"You dare mock us?" the General spoke in an infuriated tone, glaring at Euphemia, "Do you realise who we are?"

He honestly had not expected that. Unfortunately, he took Euphemia's insult as a blow to his pride and being a Britannian who went along with the masses, blows to his pride was just something he could not stand, even though he knew that Euphemia did speak the truth, he would rather die than admit it.

"Officially, you are the Royal Guard under Prince Clovis la Britannia's command, but all I see are a group of overrated gorillas that enjoy killing and terrorising little kids because it makes them feel good about themselves."

"You disrespectful little tramp," the General said as his fingers tightened their hold on the gun in his hand and he moved to pull the trigger.

Euphemia recoiled and backed up against the wall as she clenched her eyes shut.

"She mustn't die," the girl, who had finally freed herself from her restraints shouted as she ran in front of Euphemia, but unfortunately, the General realised this too late to stop his finger from pushing against the trigger and he fired the gun.

The bullet hit the girl in the centre of her forehead just before the area between her eyes, revealing a strange insignia as the girl's eyes widened in surprise. Euphemia's eyes also widened in surprised, but if the General was also surprised, he did a damn good job in hiding it. The girl fell to the floor as blood started oozing out the back of her head.

"Y-You shot her," Euphemia said in disbelief with a surprised look of disbelief to accompany her tone.

"Lady Rochelle's orders were to bring her back alive if possible," the General said; his tone rather uncaring and indifferent as he had calmed down from Euphemia's earlier insults, though Rochelle's name did not escape Euphemia's ears, "Oh well, nothing can be done about it now. We'll tell our superiors that the Royal Guard found the terrorist hideout and killed them all. Regrettably the female hostages, being her and you had already been tortured and raped to death. What do you think schoolgirl? That would be an enlightening scenario to tell your family, wouldn't it? After all, it was only by your own bad luck that you got caught up in all this. Unfortunately, you've seen too much and pose a threat to Lady Rochelle, who by the way was the one who ordered us to kill you."

"L-L-Lady R-R-Rochelle…?" Euphemia asked in disbelief before regaining her composure, "As in the Imperial Consort to Charles zi Britannia, Rochelle li Britannia?"

"Yes, what of it?" the General asked, finding Euphemia's curiosity intriguing and decided there was no harm in telling her since she would dead soon anyway.

"Isn't Prince Clovis the acting Viceroy of Area Eleven?" Euphemia, repressing the urge to spit out venom as she spoke the words, "Area Eleven", as in her view, the country was still Japan.

"Ha, he's Viceroy in name only," the General scoffed uncaringly, "Rochelle li Britannia holds the true power here and this is all part of her grand master plan."

"Grand master plan, just what's she planning?" Euphemia asked with hatred in her voice as she was coming to understand what was really going on.

"Operation: Eleven Genocide," the General replied with a smirk, "It was her who gave the terrorists intelligence leading them to believe that they were after poison gas. The terrorists would lead us right to a ghetto where Lady Rochelle could start a massacre under the guise of a cover up, which in turn would hopefully provoke Elevens everywhere to rebel, giving her an excuse to wipe them all out and the thing is, if the truth of the girl is uncovered, Prince Clovis would get the blame while Lady Rochelle gets off scot-free since His Highness did provide funding for the project, though he doesn't know exactly what it is he's been funding."

"Why does that fool of a Prince stop the massacre?" Euphemia asked with gritted teeth, furious and enraged that her own mother was the architect of this entire crisis and was just using Clovis as a means to ensure that she got her way and to dodge blame.

"Prince Clovis unfortunately is too terrified of Lady Rochelle to act against her," the General scoffed with a laugh, "She could potentially ruin him you know. It's because of her that he's remained Viceroy for as long as he has, but he's expendable. If anything goes wrong, she could easily have him replaced with someone loyal to her and who will obey her without question. Now then, I believe that's enough talk. Time for you to meet your end schoolgirl."

Euphemia looked down at the girl's dead body as she contemplated her situation.

"How can this be happening?" she thought as she felt as if her whole world was caving in around her, unable to believe that her life was going to end like this and ironically, by order of her mother, "First Suzaku's killed… and this girl… Now I'm about to die… before I've had chance to do a single thing with my life

An image of her half-sister sitting in her wheelchair flashed in her mind. Nunnally was in the middle of the countryside with a rainbow-coloured meadow in the background to the right.

"It's gone in a heartbeat," she went on as she started to tear up, "Nunnally… I'm so sorry Lelouch, but I've failed both you and Nunnally. I'm so very sorry."

However, much to her surprise and amazement, the girl's hand suddenly reached up and grabbed her wrist and the next thing she knew, she was falling as she witnessed blue streaks of what could only be described as energy emit from her body as the areas off to both her side lit up with green lines like the schematics for a computer's circuits.

"You don't want it to end here, do you?" she heard a familiar voice boom in her head and she immediately recognised it as the voice in her head before she had ended up inside the truck.

"What?" Euphemia said to herself in disbelief as, unbeknownst to her, all the colours from her body vanished and she was silhouetted against a white background and looked a lot like a colourless drawing and started disappearing and reappearing in nearby locations so fast, it was as if there was more than one of her.

"You appear to have a reason for living," the voice went on as Euphemia felt like she was moving towards a dark blue mist like background with multi-coloured energy streaks highlighting her path very much like before when she heard the voice the first time

"That girl," Euphemia said, realising who the voice belonged to and realised that the girl had been the one who had spoken to her before.

However, even though her vision of the path towards the dark blue mist like background, she was still colourless against the white background, disappearing and reappearing.

"If I grant you power, could you go on?" the girl asked, much to Euphemia's surprise as she finally saw the girl, who was also colourless and against a white background like a drawing and who was also disappearing and reappearing in nearby locations so fast, it was like there was more than one of her, " I propose a deal. In exchange for this power, you must agree to make my one wish come true."

Her sight quickly changed to an image of a bright white light in the shape of a sword's point between two large circular objects.

"Accept this contract and you accept it's conditions," the girl went on as the light descended lower, highlighting the features of the two round objects, identifying them as planets, "While living in the world of humans; you will live unlike any other, a different providence, a different time, a different life."

Suddenly, what could only be described as feathers flooded Euphemia's sight as she felt as if she was now lying down and when the feathers cleared, she saw a wall with a strange symbol; the symbol that adorned the girl's forehead carved into it. She then saw a group of people she did not know with the same symbol adorning each of their foreheads and then a giant red planet before the blue background returned with the streaking highlighting her path returned.

"The Power of the King will condemn you to a life of solitude," the girl spoke as the entire area within Euphemia's vision became green like a mist, then red, then back to blue, then green, then red, then yellow and what looked like an entire galaxy appeared to be coming towards her, "Are you prepared for this?"

She then was assaulted with an image of her father with two of his guards on either side of him. He had his back to her and he appeared to be in some kind of temple, or maybe it was an area of the palace, Euphemia could not be sure.

"A convergence with the Ragnarok Connection?" he said in an astounded tone, "So the myth is beginning once again?"

Upon seeing this and hearing her father speak, she made up her mind, not liking the sound of this Ragnarok Connection and wondered if her father was planning on something that could potentially destroy the world. At first, it sounded preposterous, but with what she was experiencing right now, she had a hard time convincing herself that it was just one big hallucination.

"Yes, I hereby accept the terms of your contract," she said rather hurriedly as she extended her left arm to her side as she became pure black and moved backwards towards the white background with black streaks outline by dark reddish orange glows appeared very much like tree roots and then two cog connected together, indicating that the deal was done.

* * *

Back to reality, Euphemia noticed the girl's hand lying on the ground as she lay unmoving. She guessed that she must have used the last of her strength to give up this new power she could feel coursing through her body. She then stood up and turned to face the Royal Guard General, no longer afraid of him.

"Hmm," the General said curiously, wondering what was going on.

"Say, how should an exiled former Britannian Princess who has grown to detest her own country live her life?" she asked

"Are you some kind of radical?" the General said, ignoring the first part of her comment as he moved his arm to point his gun at her before he hesitated, realising that something was off.

"What's wrong, why not shoot?" Euphemia asked tauntingly as she had her right hand over her left eye, "Your opponent is just a schoolgirl who had once been Third Princess of your Empire before her father exiled her along with her blind and crippled half-sister as political hostages or have you finally realised as Lelouch so often said in the past before he was assassinated… the only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed themselves."

She then removed her hand from her eye as a straight reddish pinkish orange straight line appeared in the centre of her pupil before forming the symbol that the girl had on her forehead.

"What's happening here?" the General asked, for the first time feeling the need to be afraid as his arm holding the gun started to tremble.

"I, Euphemia li Britannia, Third Princess of the Empire command you," she started to say in a tone that held authority and did not expected to be questioned as she raised her arm to her side, "Now all of you… die."

The insignia in her left eye performed a flapping motion as the General and his subordinates all felt a strange sensation enter their eyes and the General even took a step back before giving her an insane smile and bursting into equally insane laughter.

"Happily Your Highness," the General responded in a frighteningly unnatural euphoric tone as he pushed the front of his gun up against the side of his neck near the end of the bottom of his face and the other followed suit, also flashing her insane grins, though they did not laugh.

Euphemia also noticed a strange reddish glow running along the outlines of their irises.

"Fire," the General commanded in a blissfully euphoric tone before firing the gun and the others soon followed.

Blood splattered everywhere as they all fell to the ground dead and Euphemia's eyes widened in shock at what had just happened.

"D-d-d-did I do this?" she whispered to herself after reality caught up with her, "D-d-did I just k-kill those guys?"

* * *

**Author's Notes **– An unexpectedly quick chapter… I'm impressed. I realise that many of you may think that Rochelle's personality may be over-the-top, but I'm an over-the-top kind of person. I tend to hype things up and blow them out of proportions, though don't ask me why. Even I don't know the answer to that. Anyway, as you can see, I made this chapter fairly different from the anime, giving Rochelle more speaking lines and highlighting her insanity and Euphemia will be having a meeting with her and Clovis eventually. Just need to get through the battle phase of Shinjuku first. You noticed that Euphemia's reaction to the deaths of the Royal Guard soldiers was not the same as Lelouch's; that was intentional and I did consider giving Euphemia a different Geass, but in my opinion, it just would not have gone with the story and would have been difficult to work with later. Next chapter will be the start of the Battle for Shinjuku and Euphemia's reaction to what just happened at the end of this chapter. There will be a surprise in store for you all next time, I can guarantee it.


	5. Battle for Shinjuku

**Code Geass – Euphemia of the Revelation**

**Battle for Shinjuku**

**Disclaimer **– Code Geass is the property of Sunrise, Bandai Entertainment and Ichiro Okouchi, so I don't own anything afflicted with Code Geass.

* * *

**Warnings **– Strong language, strong violence, Euphemia OOC (obviously), yuri, possible lemons in later chapters (unsure)

* * *

Euphemia stood in the abandoned warehouse of the Shinjuku Ghetto as the sounds of gunfire, explosions and helpless cries for help filled the background as she stared down at the dead bodies of nine of the Royal Guard, including the General. She totally ignored the bodies of the Japanese civilians who had sought refuge in the warehouse before it had been discovered. None of them mattered to her; not the sounds of massacre nor the bodies of those unfortunate enough to have been caught hiding out in the warehouse. All Euphemia could do was stare in shock as the dead soldiers of the Royal Guard, unsure what to think. She remembered a strange sensation overflowing her after that… hallucinogenic episode or whatever that was with the dead girl and then she had ordered the soldiers to die, activating a strange power from her left eye and the soldiers all obediently complied, shooting themselves in the side of their necks.

However, if they killed themselves, why did she feel like she had been the one who had ended their lives? She brought her hands in front of her face, staring at them with a fearful look on her face as if they were stained with blood.

"D-d-did I kill them?" she asked herself, still unable to comprehend what had happened.

It had been shocking when she noticed the look in the soldiers' eyes before they shot themselves. Even though they had adorned insanely euphoric… almost psychotic grins on their faces, the look in their eyes had been frightening. Their eyes looked cold and dead, totally devoid of emotion as if they were in some kind of hypnotic trance. Did she really put them into a hypnotic trance when she told them to kill themselves and if so, did that make her a murderer? Technically, they killed themselves, but from what Euphemia had seen, they clearly had no choice in the matter as it had been her who had caused it, so she guessed that in some strange way, she did kill them.

"Are you dissatisfied with the power I gave you," a voice came, causing Euphemia to jump and look upwards.

To her absolute shock and horror, the girl who had been shot right dead in the head… the one who was the reason for this whole mess was standing off to her side perfectly fine and looking as if nothing had happened. The bullet wound in her head had vanished completely, though Euphemia still saw a pool of blood on the ground her head had been.

"Y-y-you, just what on Earth are you?" she said in a horrified tone of shock as she backed away from the girl, "You're supposed to be dead. You were shot."

"I'm immortal Euphemia Lamperouge, or is it Euphemia li Britannia, Third Princess of the Holy Britannian Empire?" the girl replied with a rather uncaring shrug.

"Immortal?" Euphemia said, still shocked, though she had momentarily forgotten about the bodies of the Royal Guard soldiers.

"Yes, did you think I was sealed off in that capsule just because someone felt like it?" the girl asked, sounding slightly annoyed, though there was a hint of sarcasm in her voice, "By the way, you can call me C.C. Euphemia."

"C… two?" Euphemia said, still unable to believe just what was going on.

"Uh huh and don't ask for my real name because I have absolutely no intentions of divulging that information," C.C. answered with a stern look that told Euphemia that she was serious.

"But I don't understand," Euphemia said as she glanced back at the Royal Guard soldiers' bodies, "What is it that you want me to do? Why did you give me this bizarre power… Geass I think it was called? What is the Ragnarok Connection and just what does my father have to do with it?"

Her look became serious and C.C. knew that she wanted answers and most likely would not move until she got them. However before she could reply, they heard a rumbling sound coming from outside and the Earth started to shake somewhat, causing Euphemia and C.C. to look in the direction of the entrance and the wall to the right exploded, whipping up dust and debris. It did not take long before a Sutherland rolled in the warehouse before coming to a halt a few feet away. The front of its head suddenly opened up as the pilot had clearly activated the Knightmare's factsphere sensor.

"Okay C.C., for now we'll concentrate on putting an end to this and getting out of here, but after that, I want answers," Euphemia said as she gave C.C. a serious stare, putting her uneasiness over the deaths of those soldiers to the back of her mind.

It still frightened her that she had killed them, but she knew that now was not the time to dwell on that. They were not out of the woods yet since the pilot of the Sutherland may still very well kill them since the orders were probably to kill everyone in the ghetto and that probably included her and C.C. since; if Suzaku's death was anything to go by, the military did not know the truth about C.C..

* * *

Inside the Sutherland's cockpit, Villetta Nu surveyed the outside area through a monitor that displayed the outside in red. After passing by the bodies of the civilians, the display moved on to the bodies of the soldiers, she let out a shocked gasp.

"How can all those Royal Guards be dead?" she asked no one in particular with pure disbelief evident in her voice as the image on the monitor showed Euphemia and C.C. before deactivating her factsphere sensor and pushed a button, which activated the Knightmare's PA.

* * *

Outside, Euphemia just glared up at the Knightmare while C.C. hid behind her.

"What happened here girls?" the pilot's voice boomed throughout the warehouse, causing Euphemia to raise an eyebrow as the voice was evidently female, "And why's a Britannian student in a place like this and just what's with your friend?"

Euphemia remained silent as she felt C.C. cling onto her from behind like a frightened child.

"Are you deaf?" the female pilot's voice came in a demanding tone, "Answer me or I'll…"

Euphemia let out an irritated groan as the pilot finished her sentence by firing a few shots from her Knightmare's assault rifle as a warning. The shots fired off into the wall behind them just above them, making it clear that she was not aiming to kill them… at least not yet, but Euphemia just glared back unflinchingly with a stone cold look on her face.

"Answer me!" the pilot demanded dangerously, making it clear that the next time she fired, it would be to kill.

"I order you to come out," Euphemia said in a raised, somewhat demanding voice that seemed to expect no defiance as she activated the power in her left eye, Geass, "At once."

She had to admit that she was a bit apprehensive about using it again, but then again, it did help her get out of that situation with the Royal Guard. She could not deny that had she not used it, she would no doubt be dead right now, so it had clearly been a case of self-defence; she was defending herself, though she could have ordered them to leave, but it had just been a spur of the moment decision; she had been rather enraged at them for murdering innocent Japanese civilians, including children just to cover up C.C.'s existence and she was also furious over the revelation that her own mother was the mastermind behind the massacre and that she had been using Clovis as her puppet to dodge blame if anything went wrong with anything she planned and what angered her the most was that the Royal Guard knew about all this and clearly did not care. She was angry that her mother had ordered her to be killed, though she knew that her mother did not know that it was her whose death she had ordered. However, that did not make it any easier to deal with. Even though, she had acted on instinct combined with her rage, the fact remained that the Royal Guard soldiers were dead because of her. Whether or not she killed them did not matter, the fact was; they were dead because of her and that was something she knew she would have to live with for the rest of her life. However, now was not the time for that.

* * *

Inside the cockpit, Villetta looked a bit surprised for a brief moment after hearing Euphemia's demanding comment. However, she then growled in anger at the nerve of this little brat. She had some nerve talking to her like that, especially considering the situation she was in. She was in no position to order people around.

"Just who the hell do you think you are to order me?" she spoke up, feeling rather insulted.

* * *

Outside, Euphemia deactivated her Geass with a surprised look on her face, but then she quickly understood.

"I see," she mumbled to herself, "It only works with direct eye contact."

She then decided to comply as she turned to face the Sutherland with her hands raised at her sides.

"My name is Antonia Spacer," she started to say, resisting the urge to cringe at using the surname of that pompous arrogant nobleman she had defeated in that chess match earlier that day before she wound up in this mess, "My father's a duke and my friend's name is Catherine Clementine. Don't mind her, she's just shy and a bit afraid of Knightmares."

This earned a look from C.C., but Euphemia gave her a look that said, "Just go with it".

* * *

Inside the cockpit, Villetta looked somewhat surprised at hearing this.

"Nobility?" she said, not sure whether or not to believe her.

That would probably explain her attitude as many nobles expected everyone else to obey their every whim and bow at their feet, but she could not help but feel that something was off. A Britannian student and her friend, who was dressed in some kind of restraining suit in the middle of a Ghetto during a full-scale military operation was not an everyday occurrence. Just who was that green-haired girl and what was with that outfit? It did not look like the standard restraining suit of a prisoner. Villetta wondered if she could have perhaps escaped from a mental asylum somewhere or perhaps the student assisted in her escape and ended up here while trying to find somewhere to lay low. That did seem plausible. However, for the moment, she decided to play along until she discovered the truth.

"My ID card's in my breast pocket on the insider of my blazer," Euphemia went on from the outside over the speakers, bringing Villetta back to reality, "After you confirm who I am, we'll request your protection."

Viletta seemed somewhat hesitant for a brief moment before she quickly pushed a button just above her Knightmare's activation-key and then took the key out, shutting the Knightmare down and then she pulled on a handle, which caused the cockpit's seat to move backwards and outside.

* * *

Outside, Euphemia grinned evilly as she saw the pilot descend to the ground via a straight cable the looped at the bottom, holding her left foot in place. The woman had a gun in her right hand, pointed at both Euphemia and C.C. and even in the shadows, Euphemia recognised this woman quite well. She recognised her as Villetta Nu, the second-in-command of the Purist Faction; the branch that was based in "Area Eleven". She cringed as those two blasphemous words passed through her mind. This was Japan, not "Area Eleven" and she remembered seeing Villetta on TV numerous times in the past at press conferences either standing beside the Purists' leader, Jeremiah Gottwald or filling in for him whenever he was unavailable.

Euphemia absolutely detested the Purists. They were the worst among the anti-"Number" factions within Britannia and were violently opposed to the Honorary Britannian system. In their view, "Numbers" were trash that did not deserve anything other than misery just because they happened to exist and whenever a "Number" proved them wrong and proved his or her worth, the Purists just could not stomach the notion of a non-Britannian being just as good, if not better than they were, much like her mother's hatred for Lady Marianne; Marianne was a commoner and Rochelle was a noble and Lady Marianne turned out to be better than Rochelle at pretty much everything to the point of making her look like an amateur and was the main reason Rochelle absolutely could not stand Lady Marianne.

Anyway, Euphemia watched as Villetta descended and noticed that she had a look of suspicion in her eyes, but that did not matter to her. For what she was about to do, Euphemia knew that she did not have to lay a finger on Villetta to get what she wanted.

"Keep your hands up in the air," Villetta stated in a tone of authority, "I'll take out your ID."

"Hook, line and sinker," Euphemia thought, maintaining her grin as she activated her Geass.

"Now then, hand your Knightmare over to me," Euphemia demanded., feeling rather satisfied with herself.

Before Villetta could react, she felt a strange sensation in her eye before submitting to the command and her mind went black and she took the gun she had in her left hand, holding it by the top and passed her Sutherland's activation-key to her right.

"Understood," she said in an emotionless, yet submissive tone as Euphemia noticed the reddish glow that surrounded her irises and she started twirling the key in her fingers before throwing it over to her, "The code number is X-G-2-1-G-2-D-4."

"Got it," Euphemia said as she grabbed the key and then turned to C.C. who was still clinging to her back, "Come on C.C., let's go. As I said before, we need to stop this massacre and get out of here. However, once that's accomplished, I want answers."

C.C. just nodded.

"I understand," she said with a sigh, knowing that explaining herself was unavoidable, at least for the moment, "You want to know about the Ragnarok Connection, don't you?"

Euphemia nodded.

"And I also want to know about your immortality and just why my mother saw fit to have you confined to that capsule," Euphemia went on in a tone that told seemed to say, "Don't try to weasel your way out of this or else".

C.C. just nodded with a defeated sigh as she followed Euphemia over to Villetta's Sutherland.

"Wait, what about her?" she asked curiously as she motioned towards the unresponsive Villetta, causing Euphemia to stop and turn to face her.

"Leave her be," she said, shaking her head uncaringly, "I absolutely loathe and detest those of the Purist Faction, but I've already killed up to nine or ten people already. I don't want to add an eleventh to the list… well unless it happens my disgusting monster that is my mother. I guarantee that I will make her pay for this."

"You're going to kill your own mother…?" C.C. said with a look of genuine shock.

"Yep, I won't allow her to carry out the genocide of the Japanese people," Euphemia responded with a look in her eyes that left no doubts in C.C.'s mind that she was deadly serious, "It's because of people like her and the Purists that the Japanese hate and despise me because I'm Britannian and besides; mother abandoned me seven years ago because I stood up for her arch nemesis, Lady Marianne vi Britannia after she was assassinated. I have no love for someone like that whatsoever and besides… with Miss Nu here, she may be killed for seeing you by the rest of the Royal Guard, should they show up or perhaps some Japanese guy will do the deed for them. In any case, I don't care much for her fate, now let's go."

She then turned back towards the Sutherland and made her way towards it with C.C. following suit; her mind firmly set on what she was going to do when she met up with her mother again.

* * *

A short while later, Villetta felt herself experiencing the sensation of waking up from a sleep. To her surprise however, she was standing upright in the middle of an abandoned warehouse. Looking around as her memories slowly started to flood back into her mind as she remembered finding the warehouse, encountering two girls, a student and a possible mental patient… at least that's what she told herself from the outfit she saw the green-haired girl wearing. She also remembered getting out of her Sutherland to check the student's ID and then everything after that was a blank. She did notice two things that she did not notice before; one, her Sutherland was missing and two, the bodies of the dead "Elevens" as well as the bodies of the soldiers from the Royal Guard were also missing. Even the blood stains seemed to have mysteriously vanished, though she did noticed the holes made by her Sutherland's assault rifle when she fired off her warning shots at the girls along with the huge hole in the opposite wall be the door made by her Sutherland's entrance.

"W-where…? How…? When did…?" she asked no one in particular, completely dumbfounded and unable to come up with a logical explanation as to how this could have possibly happened, "What the…?"

Just what had those girls done to her and more importantly, where had they taken her Sutherland and how did they manage to clear all the bodies and well as the blood stains leaving no traces that they were ever there to begin with? It was inexplicable and incomprehensible to be real and yet, here she was in the middle of a deserted warehouse that had been filled with dead bodies a short while ago, something she knew due to the fact she could still hear the familiar sounds of gunfire and explosions along with people's dying cries in the background.

* * *

"So are we having a bad day?" Suzaku Kururugi heard a voice ask, sounding rather intrigued and causing his eyes to shoot open as he remembered what had happened down in the tunnel before getting shot by his own superior for his refusal to kill Euphemia, though from what Euphemia had said and from what he had heard from the Royal Guard General, they would have shot him anyway since he was not meant to see that girl who had been in the capsule instead of the poison gas he had been told was inside it.

Anyway, surveying the situation, he was surprised to discover that he was alive and lying on a make-shift bed in what appeared to be a medical facility of some sort and this short bluish grey-haired man with light blue eyes and wearing rather big thin-framed glasses was staring at him right in his face as if he were an animal in a zoo. He wore what only could be described as a white lab coat with black outline that ran down his right side and a rather big black triangular button pinning the front in place. He also had a black armband on his left upper arm.

"Look's like you missed a chance to go to Heaven Private Kururugi," the man said as he straightened up, still sounding as if he was analysing Suzaku like some kind of interesting object, but Suzaku was feeling too disoriented to either notice or care.

"I did?" Suzaku asked as he moved to get up, but winced at feeling the pain in his side where he had been shot.

He also noticed that his torso had been wrapped in bandages round his stomach area and upper abdomen as well as over his left shoulder like a sash.

"Where…?" he started to ask as he managed to sit up with a confused look on his face as he wondered what had happened to Euphemia and the girl they had both discovered and if whether or not the Royal Guard had managed to kill them.

"Hmm?" the man; obviously a scientist said with a raised eyebrow before going on to explain, "Ah, we're still in the Shinjuku Ghetto."

He then realised that he was inside an ambulance that had no doubt been called in to deal with possible casualties.

"With Prince Clovis nearby, this is probably the safest place anywhere," the woman standing behind the scientist, whom Suzaku guess must be his assistant spoke up.

The scientist took a small step to the side as his assistant held out a round watch that was sitting on top of a white cloth that she had in both her hands.

"This is what saved your life Mr Suzaku," she explained, bending over a bit and sounding more polite than the scientist.

"You're lucky it was under your protective suit because that's what deflected the bullet," the scientist finished, his tone no different from before.

"Is it a keepsake?" the woman asked with genuine curiosity.

"Yeah, very," Suzaku said in a somewhat depressed tone as he took back the watch; depressed that his oldest friend was probably dead.

"You Elevens believe that gods live inside of everything, even objects, don't you?" the scientist said in that same annoying tone, though Suzaku was too preoccupied with his thoughts to notice.

The front of the watch was cracked that ran through the diameter of the glass circle and part of the glass covering that was over the 3 on the watch was missing.

"I guess this one…" the scientist went on.

"Is Euphie…?" Suzaku asked in alarm, cutting him off before trailing off himself and remaining silent for a few moments as he considered what to say.

"What's the latest on the situation?" he asked as he lowered the arm that held his watch.

"It looks like the poison gas was released," the scientist said in a regrettable tone, "Massive Eleven casualties have been reported."

"They haven't caught the perpetrators yet," the scientist's assistant, a woman with dark blue hair and blue eyes, wearing an orange military style jacket with black outline, a white shirt and black tie with an identical black armband as her superior on her upper left arm went on.

"They haven't huh?" Suzaku said in a steady, slightly surprised tone, deciding that it was best not to divulge the truth about what had really been inside the capsule, "Not yet?"

He had already escaped death once and decided not to risk it. He did not know how much this scientist or his assistant knew about it and feared the telling the truth could land him in trouble yet again and this time, his father's old watch would not be able to save him. If these people knew the truth, they would probably kill him if he divulged what he knew and if not, it could lead them poking their noses where they should not be and in that case, they all could end up dead.

"Private Kururugi, how much experience do you have in piloting a Knightmare Frame?" the scientist asked curiously, changing the subject.

"Wha… but there's no way an Eleven would be made a knight," Suzaku said in surprised astonishment as both the scientist and his assistant stared at him curiously.

It was true that he was an Honorary Britannian, but Honorary Britannians were not allowed to pilot Knightmare Frames due to their former status as "Numbers"… because according to the higher-ups they did not want their Knightmares falling into the hands of terrorists and were wary of spies as terrorist groups had been known to have some of their members enlist as Honorary Britannians to act as spies. The Japan Liberation Front, the biggest anti-Britannian movement in "Area Eleven" was famous for it as many of its members consisted of former Japanese military personnel.

"Well, supposing you could," the scientist asked in an uncaring tone as he held up what looked like a Knightmare Frame activation-key in front of Suzaku's face, much to Suzaku's utter astonishment.

"Congratulations, the only Knightmare of its kind awaits you," the scientist went on, not particularly caring for Suzaku's surprised reaction, "Once you take the controls of this big beauty, everything will change; you and your world."

"Whether you want it to or not," his assistant added.

"And if the higher-ups don't like an Eleven pilot, then they can take their delusional beliefs and shove 'em up their asses for all I care," the scientist said with a serious look on his face; his tone, one of challenging defiance, as if daring his superiors to object, "I believe that talent should be made use of whether it belongs to a Britannian or not."

Though he knew that if Suzaku did turn out to be really good at piloting his new Knightmare, it would infuriate a lot of people as with this Knightmare, only the best of the best, such as Marianne the Flash and Princess Cornelia could pilot it and if Suzaku was just as good as they were, it would infuriate a lot of people due to the fact he was not Britannian and was considered inferior, especially since he was born in what was now one of Britannia's numbered areas. In Lloyd Asplund's opinion, it seemed that the majority of Britannians had one big massive superiority complex over the rest of the world and believed that non-Britannians, even those from areas regions and nations that had not been conquered by the Empire should bow down and worship them as if they were gods among men… well perhaps that was a bit over the top as Lloyd knew there were many decent Britannians that did not "get with the program" as it were, but with all the oppression the "Numbers" had suffered, it such felt that way. The other two superpowers in the world were the Chinese Federation and the Euro Universe and Britannia did not like either one… basically because they proved Britannia wrong and were too powerful for Britannia to mess with and that infuriated a lot of Britannians. Of course, Lloyd knew that that was just his opinion based on what he had seen and quite possibly, he could be blowing it out of proportions.

* * *

Meanwhile in the ghetto, innocent civilians continued to hopelessly try to flee as the Britannian military continued to gun them down. A tank had just succeeded in shooting down three helpless civilians. However, a slash harken shot out of the ground and into the front of the tank, damaging its main gun and then it recoiled back to a one-armed red Glasgow as it surfaced. The tank's side guns fired at the Knightmare, but the bullets as no effect whatsoever and bounced harmlessly off its armour.

* * *

"Those damn Britannians!" Kallen said from inside the cockpit with a look of pure enraged venomous hatred on her face as she witnessed the military hardware demolish buildings and shoot down fleeing civilians.

The question on her mind was, why? Why were the Britannians doing this? Sure, they had cleared out ghettos in the past, but they had always allowed the residents to flee and only killed those who decided to stay and stand their ground. This time however, they were massacring everyone for no apparent reason. This was so unlike them. Had they decided to change tactics ad just wipe out everyone for another one of their expansions of the settlement or was it something else?

That question left Kallen with a rather dark and horrifying feeling in the pit of her stomach as she knew there was only one possible reason why they were killing off everyone in the ghetto that they found. However, that did not make any sense. All she and Nagata had stolen was poison gas. Why would the Britannians go to such lengths to retrieve it? For the first time since this whole mess started, Kallen started to realise that something was off. Something about this whole situation just did not add up and in truth, she was afraid that she would not like the answer and worst of all, she had this terrifyingly horrible notion that this whole massacre was partly their fault… hers and Nagata's for stealing that poison gas capsule… or was it really poison gas or something else entirely and they had made a mistake and stolen something that the Britannians did not want to be made public?

"Kallen, can the Glasgow still move?" a voice came over the communicator, bringing her back to reality before she could ponder on the subject further.

* * *

"Don't worry Ohgi," Kaname Ohgi heard Kallen's voice from over his communicator as he stood hiding behind the remains of what had once been a house as someone was currently loading a bazooka in the background, "It's alright, I'll decoy them. Just get the people out of here. The only ones that'll be captured are those of us in the resistance."

"I know, but we're trapped," Ohgi replied as the person in the background stood up after finishing with the bazooka and fired it out at a Britannian VTOL gunship in the air, "They've got us completely surrounded."

* * *

Meanwhile at Ashford Academy, Shirley Fenette was still fuming over Euphemia's comment over the phone earlier that day as she was in the process of changing into her bathing suit. She was standing in front of her locker in the girls' changing room as three girls sat at a table behind her talking away to one another and watching a comedy show on a miniature TV. However, Shirley ignored them as she was still seething from Euphemia's hurtful comment as she slung the straps at the top of her suit over her shoulders before her cell phone went off.

"Huh?" she said in surprise, not expecting a call.

She took her phone and then checked the caller ID and her expression then turned into a furious glare.

"I swear Euphie, you had better be calling to apologise or else," she said in a furiously dark tone with a low voice, though the three girls behind her turned their attention towards her briefly before shrugging it off.

* * *

Meanwhile, Euphemia was driving Villetta's stolen Sutherland underneath a bridge and towards the wall of a building where she could safely hide and plan her next move.

"Look Shirley, I just want to apologise for earlier," Euphemia said as she heard the noise that indicated that Shirley had answered before Shirley could get a word in, "You caught me when I was in a rather bad mood earlier and I just want to say, I'm sorry. I had no right to take it out on you."

"Euphie, just what in the world have you been doing?" Shirley's voice came over the phone, apparently all her anger and fury having left her at hearing Euphemia's apology, "Where are you now? If you keep cutting class, you'll get held back."

* * *

Back at Ashford, Shirley was in the process of fixing her long orange hair at the back with both her hands with her cell phone currently attached to her ear as she spoke.

"Are you near a TV?" she heard Euphemia ask

"A TV?" Shirley asked in surprise, clearly curious to what it was Euphemia was doing at the moment and why would she want her to check a TV?

* * *

Back in the Shinjuku Ghetto, Euphemia had made it to the side of the building to had been moving towards and she rolled out the Sutherland from its hiding spot just ever so slightly to see what was going on.

"Sorry, but this is important," Euphemia said in a serious tone that let Shirley know that she was in no mood for an argument.

* * *

Back at Ashford, Shirley looked surprised at Euphemia's tone for a moment as she let the information sink in and them she gave a dissatisfied humph before sighing in defeat, knowing that it was pointless to argue with the pink-haired girl at the moment.

* * *

Inside the Sutherland's cockpit, Euphemia sat in the driver's seat with C.C. squashed against her. It was clear that the Sutherland cockpit was only meant to have one person inside it and C.C. had only just managed to squash herself right next to Euphemia, making it rather awkward and making it hard for Euphemia to pilot the Sutherland, though she somehow managed to do so… albeit, rather clumsily at first.

"I don't mean to sound rather negative, but your piloting skills are pathetic," C.C. pointed out, though for the sound of her voice, it sounded as if she did not really care.

"Give me a break, this is my first time inside one of these things," Euphemia replied in a low, frustrated voice that was barely above a whisper since she did not want Shirley to hear, "And having you squished up against me isn't helping."

"Hang on," Shirley's voice came over Euphemia's cell phone, interrupting C.C. before she had a chance to reply, "Hey can I change the channel?"

It was clear to Euphemia that that question was not directed at her and that Shirley was not alone.

"Huh?" she heard another girl's voice ask as she was busy pushing a series of eight buttons beneath a small monitor displaying data, "To what?"

"The news," Euphemia replied to the girl, "Is there anything about Shinjuku?"

"News?" she heard Shirley say, clearly confused, "Let's see…"

* * *

Back at Ashford, Shirley was standing at the table, looking down at the mini-TV as the three other girls looked on curiously, one having stood up and another with her knees up to her chest with her hands clasped at the bottom of her feet.

"There's nothing on," Shirley said, still feeling rather confused as she wondered just what on Earth was going on with Euphemia, "Traffic restrictions?"

* * *

Back in the ghetto, Euphemia quickly rolled the Sutherland's back against the wall of the building, hiding it as a tank passed by on the road in front of the building.

"Why is it restricted?" she asked Shirley as she did this.

"I dunno, they're not saying," Shirley's reply came.

* * *

Inside the cockpit, Euphemia's look became serious as she made a startling, yet not surprising conclusion.

"I get it, once they finish everything off, they'll release news that favours the military," she thought bitterly as she cringed in disgust.

This was not fair. These people had done nothing wrong and yet, they were being slaughtered like livestock and all because certain people feared that news that would prove to be pretty damaging to their reputations could make it out into the public domain and because her mad mother wanted to obliterate the Japanese people off the face of the Earth and what upset Euphemia most of all about that was that she knew that her mother believed her to be dead and her genocide campaign was probably just her means of gaining revenge as she knew just how reluctant her mother had been to have her sent off with Nunnally as a political hostage. However, the fact remained that she still went along with it since she hated Lady Marianne and her daughter had stood up for her. It absolutely sickened Euphemia to no end that her mother was such a loathsome person full of hate and malice. If she wanted revenge, she should have directed her attention towards her husband, not the Japanese people. This was unacceptable. Killing off a whole race of people just because she believed that one of them had killed her daughter… Euphemia's face twisted in rage.

"I'm not for the whole matricide thing," she thought with a regrettable sigh before her expression became one of rage again, "But I have no other choice. Sorry mom, but you have to die."

She then noticed objects lying out on the ground on the display monitor. The objects included a soccer ball and chess board and pieces, which were obviously abandoned in the residents' haste to escape the military.

"Oh, you're gambling again, aren't you?" Shirley's voice came over the phone, reminding Euphemia that she had not hung up yet as she used the monitor to zoom in on the chess board, which was turned over so that the white and black squares side was on the ground and Euphemia noticed blood stains on the brown side along with a black king and a white rook; both on their sides.

"I warned you before more than once how dangerous that is," Shirley went on, bringing Euphemia out of her thoughts.

"Yep, you caught me," Euphemia lied in a mockingly defeated tone… well she figured that it was not a total lie since she and Rivalz had been on their way back to the academy from a gambling trip before this whole mess started, "My earlier bad mood was because I was losing. By the way, can you tell Nunnally that I'm going to be home late tonight, would you? Thanks."

She then moved her hand to her cell phone, which was attached to her ear.

* * *

Back at Ashford, Shirley was about to protest when she heard the familiar sound that indicated that Euphemia had hung up.

"Wha… ooh, why does she always hang up on me like that?" she said furiously, glaring at the phone as she punched in Euphemia's phone number.

However, instead of ringing, Shirley was both shocked and frustrated to hear a familiar message.

"The number you have called is beyond service range," a female voice, which was obviously a recording, said.

"Oh darn it, not this again," Shirley said in a defeated, yet frustrated tone.

"Trouble in paradise between you and your girlfriend?" one of the other girls joked with a snigger, knowing just how obsessed Shirley was over Euphemia.

"Do you want a black eye?" Shirley snapped, glaring at the girl as she furiously waved her fist in front of her, "Why does everyone assume that Euphie and I are a couple? We're both girls and that would be weird."

"But Shirley, you do seem to have an unhealthy obsession over her," one of the other girls said, "It's not natural."

Shirley spun her head round and glared daggers at the girl.

"I can assure you that there's nothing going on between me and Euphie," she said in a rather calm tone, though the low dangerous undertone was quite evident, "And as for this… obsession you cal it… well, that's none of your damn business, so just LAY OFF!"

The other three girls jumped at Shirley's raised voice and decided that it was best to just drop the subject as it was clear that Shirley would get physical if they persisted in teasing her and they knew better than to push their luck.

* * *

Back in the ghetto inside the cockpit of Villetta's stolen Sutherland, the display monitor showed a map of the surrounding area, first showing the symbol of a man coloured yellow, much like the symbols used for restroom surrounded by a yellow circle and then the map zoomed out, showing old roads and building along with small blue rectangles with yellow pointers as the top… obviously representing the other Sutherlands.

"They need to keep a lid on this information, so it'll be hard for them to call in reinforcements," Euphemia explained to herself as she analysed the map, "They'll have to make do with the pieces they have on the board."

"You're treating this like a board game?" C.C. asked curiously.

"And what's wrong with that?" Euphemia asked, daring C.C. to challenge her, "Playing strategy games can give you an edge on the battlefield."

"A battlefield isn't a game," C.C. pointed out in a "matter of fact" tone, "There are factors and variables in a real battlefield that don't exist in board games and if you lose, there's no rematch."

"You're such a downer, you know that?" Euphemia said, somewhat frustrated, "You definitely know how to kill the mood. Are you sure that it was just because of your "immortality" that you were crammed into that capsule or perhaps someone found you annoying and shipped you off to those scientists to get you out of their hair."

"You could have just left me in the warehouse you know," C.C. responded in an uncaring tone.

"Yeah, I could have," Euphemia admitted with a groan, "And I'm starting to wish I had. However, regardless of how annoying you are, I simply just can't leave you. I want answers from you and if I had left you, chances are you would have been either recaptured or killed and even if you had survived, I probably would never see you again."

C.C. remained silent as to Euphemia, it seemed like she was deep in thought.

"Anyway, we're hemmed in here and it'll be tough to break through by ourselves with just one Sutherland," Euphemia went on, continuing with her analysis, "Gaining refuge carries its own risks to."

"Just how good are you at strategising?" C.C. asked as Euphemia pulled the exit handle, causing the seat to move backwards and outside.

"I've beaten many nobles in chess matches and come out on top of situations that to the untrained eye looked impossible to get out of," Euphemia explained, remembering the strategies that Lelouch had taught her and thinking back to her chess match with Mr Spacer, who did not realise he had lost until she had said the word, "checkmate", "There have only been three people who were able to beat me and sadly, one of them is now dead."

* * *

Meanwhile, Kallen's red one-armed Glashow fired a slash harken up at a VTOL gunship. Kallen had obviously managed to somehow repair the damage caused by Jeremiah's connected shot.

* * *

Euphemia stood up from the seat as she looked up at the falling gunship, now engulfed in flames. She glared up at it with unsheathed fury in her eyes.

"I want payback for being dragged into your fight," she said bitterly, though whether she was meaning payback on the Britannians or the terrorists, C.C. could not be sure.

"Technically, it's your own fault for seeing if that truck needed help," C.C. pointed out, much to Euphemia's displeasure, "But then again, this chaos is your fault for running off with me when the Royal Guard could have apprehended me.

"Yeah, and I would be dead," Euphemia shot back, clearly irritated, "And did you have wax in your ears when you listened to that General guy's explanation? Even if you had been recaptured, my mom would have had the ghetto destroyed anyway. What she's doing is genocide. She wants to kill off every single Japanese person in the world because she blames them for my "death". Did it ever occur to her that I may have been killed by a Britannian if I really was dead? Civilians get caught in the crossfire of battles in war all the time. Sometimes, soldiers mistakenly kill civilians from their own side. Unfortunately, mom doesn't see it that way, which is why I plan on killing her."

"So, in a way, this massacre is still your fault for faking your own death," C.C. asked, causing Euphemia to cringe at this harsh truth; something she had not even considered, "And you want to kill her even when you still haven't come to terms with the deaths of those Royal Guardsmen?"

"Shut up," Euphemia said, glaring at the immortal woman, though it was clear that she was having a hard time contemplating what had just been said, "If what you say is true, then I have even more reason to kill her and as for those dead Royal Guardsmen, I don't have time to dwell on that at the moment. This is a serous situation we're in and even the slightest slip-up could prove fatal. I'll think this over when we get out of this mess."

With her resolve rejuvenated, Euphemia glared ahead, though she knew that C.C. did bring up pretty valid points. In some round about way, what was happening now was her fault, since she had faked her death, along with Nunnally's death, which in turn incurred the wrath of her mother upon the Japanese people, though Euphemia knew that her mother did not care for Nunnally in the slightest and was probably glad she was "dead" as she was "that disgusting witch's" child and being a blind paraplegic, Euphemia remembered hearing her mother say that Nunnally was better off dead since she had nothing to offer Britannia in her condition since many Britannians hated weakness and persecuted those of their own who were handicapped or who had different beliefs from them. Euphemia even remembered her mother say that in her current condition, Nunnally would probably welcome death as it would be more of a luxury for her than a hindrance.

"Right, this senseless slaughter ends now," she said with a hardened look on her face, feeling obligated to stop it after C.C.'s revelation.

Everything else would have to wait. Now was the time for action.

"Time the terrorists mounted a comeback," she said with a smirk, "And I can guarantee, mom and those other Japanese-hating monsters won't know what hit them."

C.C. looked at Euphemia right in the eyes and knew right then and there that Euphemia was dead set on what she was going to do, though she noticed some uncertainty still present in her big blue eyes. She knew that Euphemia had every intention of killing her own mother and would do it, but from the uncertainty in her eyes, C.C. knew that she would almost certainly end up regretting it. She still had not come to terms with the fact that she had caused the deaths of the Royal Guardsmen, though she had managed to put off dwelling on it for now until they got out of this situation, but with the added death of Rochelle li Britannia, C.C. knew that it would be even harder for Euphemia to cope with the guilt she felt over causing the deaths of those men as well as her own mother.

"Be very careful Euphemia," C.C. thought as a look of genuine concern crossed her face, though Euphemia was so caught up in her resolve, she failed to notice, "You could manage to learn to live with the guilt, but choosing revenge carries its own risks as well. If you allow your hatred for your father to consume you, you may end up losing sight of your goal and your humanity in the process. You may end up becoming just as much of a monster as the one you're seeking to destroy, perhaps even worse and I shudder to think of the consequences if that happens. You were an unknown variable in your father's plan after the unexpected death of Lelouch. He may see you as his replacement, but you could very well prove to be too unpredictable to control. I fear that your father may get more than he bargained for."

* * *

**Author's Notes **– Another chapter done and in case you don't know, the surprise I promised last chapter, was C.C. joining Euphemia (sorry if some of you feel disappointed). Anyway, I wanted C.C. to join her because it was different from the anime (in the anime C.C. did not appear alive against until the end of episode four). I also wanted Euphemia to get acquainted with C.C. early on to work on their relationship (from my warning, you'll know that this fic will have yuri in it). I also wanted to show that Euphemia is somewhat different from Lelouch (hopefully traits that remain true to cannon Euphie) and yet at the same time, not all that different (traits she gained from her stay in Japan). As for her willingness to kill her own mother, it's mainly down to her rage over her mother's… albeit reluctant acceptance in sending her off to Japan with Nunnally along with the fact that she's the mastermind behind the Shinjuku Massacre and with C.C.'s revelation that it was because Euphemia went into hiding that Rochelle's doing this, makes her feel rather obligated to put a stop to it (note; Rochelle will be a posthumous plot device when Cornelia comes along). Anyway, next chapter will be the start of the terrorist group's comeback with Euphemia's help of course and what happens when things don't go Rochelle's way?


	6. Battle for Shinjuku 2

**Code Geass – Euphemia of the Revelation**

**Battle for Shinjuku 2**

**Disclaimer **– Code Geass is the property of Sunrise, Bandai Entertainment and Ichiro Okouchi, so I don't own anything afflicted with Code Geass.

* * *

**Warnings **– Strong language, strong violence, Euphemia OOC (obviously), yuri, possible lemons in later chapters (unsure)

* * *

In the Shinjuku Ghetto Kallen had just shot down a Britannian VTOL gunship with the slash harkens of her red one-armed Glasgow Knightmare Frame. In all honesty, she just could not understand the attitude of the Britannian military. Why were they conducting a massacre on innocent people? This could not be one of their settlement expansion movements, could it? She did not think so, but she just could not help but shake the feeling that this was indirectly her fault; her and her group for stealing that capsule containing poison gas, or was it poison gas at all or something else… something that could ruin the reputation of someone important if knowledge of it managed to escape into the public domain. That sounded plausible. However, if it was not poison gas they had stolen, then what was it? Just what could be in that capsule that could potentially pose a threat to people's reputations enough for them to have the military wipe out an entire ghetto just to keep it quiet? The answer eluded her, but she was becoming more and more convinced that it had not been poison gas they had stolen. However, before she could ponder on this further, she noticed two Sutherlands roll up behind her.

She let out a gasp as she moved to escape them, knowing full well that she was no match for even one Sutherland and now she had two to deal with.

* * *

"It's our Glasgow friend," Jeremiah Gottwald, the pilot of the Sutherland on the right said with a sadistic smirk from inside the cockpit as he fired at the Glasgow as it hurriedly vanished behind a wall.

* * *

Euphemia watched as the red Glasgow appeared in her field of vision before making a left turn down an old road as she took out the communicator she had acquired from inside the truck after Kallen discarded her coat to get into the Glasgow's cockpit from inside her blazer.

"You're going to contact her, aren't you?" C.C. asked curiously, sounding as if she did not care in the slightest.

"Yeah, and just how do you know the pilot's a she," Euphemia asked curiously, "You were in the capsule when she passed by."

"I could hear her quite clearly," C.C. replied rather dismissively, "The capsule may be made of metal, but it wasn't soundproof you know."

"I see," Euphemia said with a yawn as she noticed a piece of paper stuck to the back of the communicator with a series of numbers written on it and she let out an amusing laugh as she realised what those numbers were, "These terrorists are a bunch or idiotic moronic amateurs."

"How so?" C.C. asked with a raised eyebrow, looking over Euphemia's shoulders.

"They wrote their communication frequencies on the back of their communicators," Euphemia replied with a laugh, "Supposing I hadn't been there or I had left it in the truck and then some soldier happened to come across it. They'd be in trouble then."

"I suppose," C.C. replied with a shrug.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kallen was rather tense in the cockpit of her Glasgow as an alarm went off and the display monitor issues a Caution message, causing her to gasp in fear.

"Just thirty minutes left," she cursed, realising that her Knightmare's battery, the energy-filler was running low and was almost flat.

"The west entrance," a new unfamiliar voice came over the Glasgow's communicator, causing Kallen to gasp in surprise, "Use the tracks to move to the west entrance."

"Who this?" Kallen snapped furiously with suspicion evident in her voice, "How do you know this code?"

This was a surprising turn of events. She had been contacted by some unknown, though from the sound of the voice, it was clearly female and was giving her instructions. However, Kallen could not help but be suspicious. What if it was a trap, meant to lull her into a false sense of security? Just how did this mysterious woman figure out her frequency? However, what would be the point of setting a trap? The Britannians clearly had the advantage and she was no doubt as good as dead if she did not manage to shake off those two Sutherlands; one of which, she knew had been the one she had been forced to sacrifice her Knightmare's missing arm against, as the pilot has his PA activated and she recognised his voice.

* * *

"That doesn't matter," Euphemia, who was now back in Villetta's stolen Sutherland with C.C. squashed against her again said as she button up her blazer, "If you wanna win, you're gonna have to trust me."

"You don't honestly expect her to trust you, do you?" C.C. asked, causing Euphemia to groan at the uncaring tone in her voice.

"Well, if she wants to get out of this alive, she'll have no choice but to trust me," Euphemia replied in a lowered voice that was barely above a whisper so that Kallen would not be able to hear and no doubt misunderstand her statement.

* * *

"To win?" Kallen said in shocked confusion from inside the cockpit of the Glasgow, deciding that with few options open to her that for now, it was safer to trust this mysterious woman.

She then drove her Knightmare towards a bridge and caused it to jump onto the bridge and onto the railway line atop the bridge with each of the Glasgow's feet landing on a rail and then to moved along the railway line as sparks flew from the feet with the landspinners moving the Knightmare from behind each of its feet.

"Okay, what am I supposed to do now?" Kallen asked desperately with fear evident in her voice, afraid that something would go wrong or that it had been a trap after all.

* * *

Behind the Glasgow, the two Sutherlands chasing it also jumped onto the bridge and resumed the chase.

* * *

"You pathetic Eleven," Jeremiah commented boastfully from inside the cockpit of his Sutherland, rather enjoying himself, "If you simply run away, this hunt hasn't much to offer in the way of sport."

* * *

Meanwhile, a train was travelling down the line towards the fleeing Glasgow and pursuing Sutherlands, causing Kallen to look on in momentary panic at the approaching train.

"Since you trusted me, you're gonna win," the voice of the mysterious woman came over the communicator, causing Kallen to calm down somewhat, though she was still a bit apprehensive, "Jump onto the train."

"Gotcha," Kallen replied hurriedly as she made the Glasgow jump just as the train was about to hit its legs and landing on top of the roof of its first carriage and then hopped its way down the train as Jeremiah's Sutherland placed its hands on both side of the engine to bring it to a halt, which was not much of a problem since the driver had applied the brakes before hand.

* * *

"You think you can get through that way, hmm?" Jeremiah mused curiously with an impressed smirk from inside the cockpit.

* * *

"If that's your plan then…" his voice boomed on the outside as the train came to a complete stop.

"You, go after the Glasgow," he ordered the pilot of the other Sutherland.

"Yes my Lord," th pilot's voice boomed from the PA speakers as the Sutherland jumped into the air, only to by hit by a pair of slash harkens, causing it to fall to the ground, bouncing off the bridge and to the ground below causing major damage to its torso.

* * *

"What the…?" Jeremiah said from inside the cockpit as his eyes widened in surprise, since he knew those slash harkens could not have come from the Glasgow.

Looking to the side, he noticed a lone Sutherland inside the ruins of a nearby building with its factsphere sensor activated as its slash harkens returned. The front of the Sutherland's head closed and Jeremiah was left speechless for a moment.

"Shot by friendly fire," he said in surprise, concluding that the pilot had just made a mistake, "What's your name and your unit? We're after the one-armed Glas…"

He was cut off as the Sutherland responded by firing its assault rifle at him.

"Eat lead Gottwald, you piece of purist filth," an unfamiliar woman's voice came over his Sutherland's communicator, "Go roll in the garbage where you and the rest of your disgusting Purist Faction belong."

"Oh my god," Jeremiah said in fearful shock with widened eyes as he came to a horrifying conclusion, "A terrorist?"

Somehow he figured, the terrorists must have somehow stolen a Sutherland and that voice, denouncing his faction… it was rather insulting to say the least and whoever the pilot was knew who he was. However, to say that the Purist Faction was filth that belonged with the garbage... something that the Purists believed that was a fate only deserving for the "Elevens" was a blow to his pride and Jeremiah Gottwald could not take blows to his pride. However, before he could respond, the enemy Sutherland's assault rifle had managed to take out his Sutherland's left foot by aiming at the landspinner, causing it to kneel on its right knee.

"Curse you," he said furiously with rage in his eyes, glaring at the enemy Sutherland as he moved to aim his own Sutherland's assault rifle at it.

However, he then noticed the Glasgow rolling along the top of the train right at him as he heard the pilot yell out a battle cry as her Knightmare sped towards him. Knowing that he had no time to move to defend himself, he pulled a lever at the left side of his seat and the front of his Sutherland's chest opened up, revealing rocket boasters as inside, the monitor displayed the word, "Ejection seat activate", indicated that Jeremiah had activated the ejection sequence. The rocket boosters in the Sutherland's chest fired up and the cockpit shot of the Sutherland as a forty-five-degree angle and moving away a safe distance before shooting out parachutes to slow down its descent, much to Kallen's surprise.

* * *

Inside the Glasgow's cockpit, Kallen breathed a sigh of relief as she saw the abandoned Sutherland fall on its back.

"You saved me," she said with a smile, sighing with relief before looking towards where her mysterious helper had been, "But how did you get a hold of a Sutherland?"

However, to her surprise, the Sutherland was already gone.

"What… where did she go?" she asked herself, wondering just who that girl was and why she had helped her.

* * *

"Kallen!" Kaname Ohgi shouted out as he and three others; two men and a woman came running up to the Glasgow, "What the hell was that radio message earlier?"

"What, she contacted you to?" Kallen's voice boomed from the Glasgow's PA speakers, sounding rather surprised.

"Sure did," Ohgi confirmed seriously, "And Yoshida and his group aught to be here soon."

The sound of static over Ohgi's communicator caught the group's attention as Ohgi held the communicator up in front of him.

"Are you in charge?" the mysterious woman's voice came over it.

"Uh… yeah," Ohgi said, unsure what to say or think.

Just who was this woman and why was she helping them; not that he was complaining. In a desperate situation such as this, he was willing to accept help from just about anybody since he had little to no options left open to him.

"I present to you the cargo in that train over there," the woman's voice said over the communicator, "They're tools for your victory. If you want to use them to win, then follow my orders."

Kallen used her Glasgow to open the door of one of the train's carriages and her eyes widened in surprised astonishment as she saw that the carriages contained unused Sutherlands... no doubt the train had been en route to provide the military with reinforcements should they need them. She then moved the Glasgow to the next carriage and opened its door to discover the same.

"There's more in here," she said, still unable to shake off her surprise.

"Here to," someone called out, having opened the door of another carriage

"Amazing, maybe we should give this babe a chance," someone else said as more people arrived and started opening the doors to the train's carriages.

* * *

Inside the Glasgow's cockpit, Kallen was at a loss for words. Just who was this mysterious woman, why was she helping them and just how in the world did she know that that train contained a batch of Sutherlands? Okay, the last question was easily answered as she knew their mysterious helper had managed to steal a Sutherland and had obviously been listening in to the military's communications.

"All this… how…?" she thought, still speechless and unable to speak despite the fact that she had already guessed the answer, but the astonishment was still there.

"Woman in the Glasgow," the mysterious woman's voice came over the Glasgow's communicator, bringing Kallen out of her daze.

"Y-yes?" Kallen replied, finally finding her voice, though the surprised astonishment was still evident as she spoke.

"Stay where you are," the mysterious woman commanded in a "don't argue with me" tone, "Your unit's gonna run decoy, you got that?"

"Understood," Kallen said, finally overcoming her astonishment as she decided to give the woman a chance since she saw that she and her group had no other options available to them.

"Energy-filler status?" the woman asked, referring to the Glasgow's battery.

"About fifteen minutes worth," Kallen replied unquestionably.

"Then recharge it," the woman commanded, "In ten minutes, I'll contact you with your next instructions."

* * *

Meanwhile, up inside the ruins of another building, Euphemia hid inside Villetta's Sutherland as she started to plan her next move. After she turned off Kallen's communicator, she then sat back and let out a tired and slightly frustrated sigh.

"This is wearing me out," she said, causing C.C. to raise and eyebrow before her expression turned serious, "Regardless though; I'll need determination to succeed. After all, I'm betting my life on this game."

She then took a black king chess piece that she had picked up when she had exited the Sutherland earlier and twirled it in her hand.

"Still treating this like a game?" C.C. asked with a hint of seriousness in her voice, "I told you before, real battle is no game. If you lose, there's no rematch."

"I'm well aware of that, but I have no options at the moment," Euphemia growled in frustration, clearly annoyed at C.C.'s habit of killing the mood, "I realise that in real battles, there are factors that don't exist in board games. However, when you play games based on strategy; then your strategic knowledge can be applied to real-life battles."

"If you say so," C.C. said with a defeated sigh, knowing that she had a point but still concerned that Euphemia was still treating this like a game.

* * *

Meanwhile in the G-1 Base, which was being guarded by a few Sutherlands and had three yellow ambulances situated in front of it, Bartley was currently discussing the situation with Rochelle and Clovis.

"The terrorists are mixed among the Eleven populace and are mounting a minor resistance against us," he said, still standing at the table with his back to both Clovis and Rochelle with the other advisors situated round the table, "But they pose little threat to our vastly superior army."

He then turned to face the Prince and Imperial Consort, looking for their comments.

"We know that… moving on," Clovis said from his throne, trying his best to keep the disgust and revulsion out of his voice.

In truth, he was feeling rather sick at watching images of the massacre on the monitor, especially when he saw some of the victims were children and yet, Rochelle looked on in glee and watching those children die seemed to heighten her twisted happiness, which only served to worsen his feeling of nausea that was brewing in the pit of his stomach. This woman… no, this monster was just not human. How could she enjoy watching those images showing destruction and death? It was horrifying and sickening. Rochelle had clearly lost her humanity in Clovis's opinion. Did Euphemia's death really turn her into this demoness of death?

"Understood Your Highness," Bartley's voice came, bringing him back to reality, "The gas capsules will be…"

"What the public thinks," Rochelle spoke up in a seriously harsh tone, reminding him of the truth.

"Yes, we'll keep searching for her," Bartley replied obediently.

"Her?" Clovis said, confused at what Bartley had meant.

"By the way, I want her captured dead or alive," Rochelle said, ignoring Clovis's question, "Kill the Britannian student in her company and bring her body to me. We'll simply tell her family and friends that terrorists had taken her hostage, but unfortunately, the military couldn't get to her in time as the terrorists had already killed her. As for the target herself, I want her recaptured alive if possible. However, if she resists, kill her. We already have enough data from her to complete the research on our own, though it would be much quicker if we have her, but since she's a former associate of that disgusting witch, Marianne, I don't care either way."

"Hold on a second Lady Rochelle," Clovis spoke up as he stood up, glaring at the Imperial Consort, "Her… what's this all about? Just what in the hell is it that I've been funding all this time?"

"Scientific experiments on a human guinea-pig," Rochelle replied calmly, waving him off and causing all the colour to drain from his face as a look of absolute horror washed over his expression, "Like I said, knowledge of that girl in the public domain would mean your disinheritance."

She then flashed him an evil, somewhat boastful smile, letting him know that she would come out of this unscathed if the truth was made public and Clovis knew that that was a reality. He was her human shield against the media and the public. She could easily manipulate things from behind the scenes, making him look to be the only guilty party and the worst part was, that he did have some guilt in this since he had provided the funds for Rochelle's project, meaning that he was an accomplice regardless of whether he knew the truth or not, but finding out that he had been funding experiments on a human being was downright horrifying to him. It made him seem every bit of a monster as the one smirking at him right now.

"Just what on Earth have I done?" he thought, falling back into his throne, feeling rather depressed, "Euphemia, I'm sorry for this. Your mother's turned me into a monster."

* * *

Meanwhile, Ohgi had gotten into one of the Sutherlands and started it up. He switched on the display monitor.

"Hey, are you certain about this whole thing," Shinichiro Tamaki asked from the outside as the monitor's image of him came into existence, "They're all had their IFFs removed, what if this is a trap?"

* * *

Outside, Tamaki was currently staring up at the Sutherland Ohgi had claimed awaiting an answer, clearly suspicious and distrusted, but then again, Tamaki was a hothead that liked to do things his own way. He wanted to be a hero and was somewhat arrogant and overestimated himself. It was because of him that Nagata and Kallen had been discovered too early for their liking. Because he felt that things would be better if he did things his way and not stick to the script of their plan, they were in this situation and everyone knew it. In a way, the people of Shinjuku were paying for Tamaki's hotheadedness and arrogance. Tamaki had always been so sure of himself that he often got others into trouble.

"The other side has total advantage in this war," Ohgi's voice boomed from the Sutherland, "They don't need to set any traps."

* * *

Inside the cockpit, Ohgi started to get ready for the battle that lay ahead as he started to familiarise himself with the Knightmare's controls.

"Alright people, let's move; get to your assigned points," he said in a commanding tone that left no room for argument.

"P1, can you move," the mysterious woman's voice came over the communicator, "It operates basically the same as what you're used to."

Ohgi hesitated for a moment before bringing his communicator up to his ear.

"Can't you tell us who you are?" he demanded, sounding somewhat infuriated at his assigned codename, "At least your name."

* * *

Outside, the blue-haired woman, Inoue had been listening into the conversation through a communicator of her own that she had in her hand. The others were also listening in through her communicator, especially Tamaki who was standing not that far away.

"I can't do that," they heard the woman reply to Ohgi, "What if these signals are being intercepted by the military? Anyway, if Q1 is on schedule, enemy Sutherlands; probably two of them will reach you in twenty-three seconds."

* * *

Meanwhile at the same time the woman was talking, Kallen was bein chased by two enemy Sutherlands, like the woman had predicted. However, what the pilots did not know was that the Glasgow was luring them into a trap.

"Shoot them through the wall," Euphemia finished from inside the cockpit of Villetta's Sutherland.

"You realise that if we're caught like this, someone could easily imply the wrong conclusion," C.C. stated in her usual neutral uncaring tone.

"Shut up," Euphemia shot back in a quiet voice so the terrorists would not hear, "Now's not the time for this."

* * *

Back with the terrorists, Tamaki, who did not trust the woman to say the least just growled.

"Nah, she's out of her mind," he said, rather furiously; furious that he was not the one running the show.

* * *

Inside the cockpit of Ohgi's Sutherland however, Ohgi had decided to trust the woman, as their was no other options open. Sure it could be a trap for all he knew; a trap designed to add insult to injury, since as he pointed out, there was no need for the Britannians to set up a trap. However, he was willing to risk it since the woman had brought up a good point. What if their conversations had been intercepted by the military? They had addressed each other by their real names when talking to one another and Ohgi was only now coming to realise just how stupid they had been. It could have been a fatal mistake that would have led to their capture or deaths. He felt like an amateur. They might as well have just said to Britannia, "Here we are, come get us if you can"… rather and utterly foolish.

"Everyone, double-check your weapons," he commanded rather seriously, making it clear that now was not the time for bickering.

If it was a trap, it was a trap. However, if it was not a trap, then he knew that he would end up regretting not accepting this mysterious woman's help if he chose to ignore her. Better to risk it and having being a trap than to play it safe and not have it be a trap. Either way, they'd all wide up dead anyway.

"What, are you serious?" Tamaki asked, still not too happy at having potential glory stolen from him and deciding to push his luck despite Ohgi's tone.

"Can it Tamaki," Kallen's voice came over Inoue's communicator in a furious tone, clearly fed up with his constant complaining, "It's all because you couldn't stick to Naoto's plan that we're in this mess in the first place, so shut it."

Tamaki opened his mouth to retaliate, but realised that he had nothing to say in his defence short of bringing up the fact that Kallen was half-Britannian, but he knew that would probably be a fatal mistake for him. Kallen and her brother, Naoto, who had been the group's leader before he had been killed by Britannian soldiers may have been half-bloods, but they had grown up in Japan and the resistance group all knew them well enough not to prejudice and discriminate them because of the Britannian side of their heritage. They were more Japanese than they ever were Britannians. They had all been friends before the war with Britannia and Naoto had been Ohgi's best friend. Tamaki knew that one negative comment about Kallen's mixed blood would not only incur Kallen's wrath, but Ohgi's as well as Kallen had been quite close to Ohgi and with Ohgi in a Knightmare Frame at the moment, he knew better than to push his luck.

He just let out a dissatisfied growl instead, knowing that Kallen was right and had nothing to shoot back at her with and moved to get into a Sutherland.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Glasgow reached its assigned point as Kallen cursed Tamaki, knowing that he had been about to bring up her mixed blood as a negative, but luckily he had thought better of it, which was why Kallen managed to maintain her cool. Her mixed blood was something she hated. She considered herself Japanese because she grew up in Japan and knew Japan well. Britannia was a nation that was rather alien to her despite her father being Britannian. Not once had she ever set foot in the Britannian mainland. Everything about Britannia's mainland was a mystery to her and she had no desire to go there. The Britannian side of her was dead as far as she was concerned. She went about… or wanted to live her life as if her Britannian side did not exist, but unfortunately, that was an impossibility.

The members of the resistance group all knew and trusted her as they had all been friends and knew one another long before the war with Britannia broke out and they knew her well enough to trust her and knew where her loyalties lay. Ohgi had helped in that regard since she and her brother, Naoto had been closest to him. However, Kallen's mixed blood did not mean acceptance into Japanese society. Because of her, her resistance group did not get many new recruits and of the few that did join, they clearly were put off by her and refused to be alone with her. In fact, she ended up driving many of them away despite Ohgi and the others' reassurance of her loyalty. Those people found it hard to trust a half-blood and in truth Kallen could not blame them. Her Britannian side made the Japanese suspicious that she was some kind of spy or was loyal to Britannia and her Japanese side disgusted and repulsed Britannians, including her stepmother, who saw her as nothing more than a contamination of Britannian society. If not for her friends in the resistance, she would have been an outcast and that upset her more than anything. However, she decided to fight for Japan as it was her birthplace and she wanted to see its beauty restored. She just hoped that in time, the Japanese would come to see her as one of their own and not some potential Britannian loyalist. In many ways, she felt that her treatment from most Japanese was no different from the treatment they gave Honorary Britannians, whom they saw as traitors.

* * *

"Enemy spotted at point F-31," one of Clovis's advisors said from inside the G-1 Base as he and the others currently were looking over the map displaying the area and their forces.

"A faint eh," Rochelle commented in bored dismissal, though a devilish smirk adorned her deceptively beautiful face, "How pedestrian."

"Tell Lazlo squad to go straight in," Bartley ordered through the communicator on the table, using his hands to point at the area on the table in an aggressive manner as if emphasising his point even as the area map appeared on the front monitor, "Have Eugen and Valerie strike from the rear."

* * *

Meanwhile, Ohgi sat in the cockpit of his newly acquired Sutherland, awaiting the time to attack, even as he mentally counted down the seconds. With his thumb hovering readily over the button that operated the Sutherland's index finger, which was poised to pull the trigger of its gun.

"Three, two, one," he said, counting down the last few seconds aloud, "Fire!"

He then pushed the button and his Sutherland fired its assault rifle straight through the wall it was facing along with many of the other stolen Sutherlands.

* * *

On the other side of the wall, two enemy Sutherlands were currently in pursuit of the red Glasgow, unaware of that they had just been lured into a trap Suddenly, without warning, a hail of bullets came blazing threw the wall to their left, catching both pilots off guard.

* * *

Inside one of the enemy Sutherland's cockpits, the pilot had no time to react, even as he felt the area around him start to violently shudder.

"W-what?" was all he managed to say.

* * *

Back outside, the terrorist Sutherlands continued their barrage and some of the pilots even let out battle cries as they continued to mercilessly unload their assault rifles' ammunition on the two enemy Knightmares and pretty much and quite literally shot them both to pieces, killing the two pilots before they had a chance to activate their ejection mechanisms.

* * *

Back at the G-1 Base on the area map, the two blue rectangles representing the two Knightmares that had been closing in on a red dot, representing the Glasgow stopped moving and both displayed a bright light red box with the word "LOST" on it over them and was accompanied by a soft beeping sound.

"Sir Eugen and Sir Valerie both lost," an advisor reported in an emotionless tone, causing Clovis to look up after he had placed his hands over his face in obvious depression.

"Huh, an ambush?" he said to himself quietly with a glimmer of hope in his voice.

Perhaps the terrorists were not as weak and helpless as everyone had initially thought.

"Just dumb luck," Rochelle scoffed uncaringly, "There's no way those pathetic whelps could possibly defeat us."

Though, in truth, she was starting to seethe inside. She had been enjoying watching the massacre so far. The helpless cries of the "Elevens" was music to her ears and she wanted to witness a lot more. However, with the loss of two units; two units belonging to two highly respected and highly regarded men was infuriating; even if it had just been dumb luck on the terrorists' part. The thought of people who were seen as inferior even getting lucky was enough to make her blood boil. This was unacceptable.

However, she decided to let it lie for now, as she believed that the terrorists had just gotten lucky. She could live with that.

"They should really give themselves a pat on the back," she thought as she glared at the area map on the monitor, "Because I can pretty much guarantee them that that will be the closest to victory they'll ever get."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the cockpit of Villetta's stolen Sutherland, Euphemia chuckled as she watched an area map, identical to the one in the G-1 Base displayed on the Sutherland's monitor as she held a black knight chess piece in front of her.

"An ID signal can be a double-edged sword," she mused to herself with a wicked grin on her face, "Besides, if the terrorists follow the orders I issue, my task at hand is sure to be completed."

"Did you ever think that the enemy may have a trump card up their sleeve?" C.C. asked curiously from beside her, "They could have you know."

"That's right, just kill the mood why don't you?" Euphemia groaned frustratingly, clearly on her last nerve with this green-haired immortal or whatever she said she was, "You're starting to give me a major headache."

She then reached for the communicator and switched it on before proceeding to speak into it.

"P1, P4, P7, move a hundred metres to the right and fire your slash harkens towards three o'clock," she ordered in a tone that clearly stated that she expected no defiance.

* * *

"You heard her," Ohgi said from inside his Sutherland's cockpit in a frighteningly similar, "Do what the girl says."

* * *

"Damn, what else does she want us to do?" Tamaki said from outside with the seat of his cockpit still on the outside as he had not yet gotten into the Knightmare itself.

"P5, you ready?" the woman's voice came over the communicator.

"Ah, quit calling me that," Tamaki said as he sat down on the seat, which then moved into the cockpit; still clearly not trusting this woman, though he was more infuriated at the fact that it was her and not him calling the shots and it would no doubt be her who would be hailed for this and not him.

"Be glad I don't know your real name P5," the woman's voice came, "If I did and I called you by it and the military happened to be listening in and heard it, you'd be in deep shit."

Tamaki's only response was to growl; infuriated at this understandable logic He had to admit that she did have a point, but being told that was something he found rather infuriating. It was a rather amateurish move, but Tamaki did not like to be seen as an amateur. He believed himself to be a pro… so much of a pro that he had problems with figures in positions of authority such as Naoto and Ohgi. He believed his way was better than any plan the others came up with and being proven wrong was just something he detested as it made him look weak and stupid. However, for now, he decided to just suck it up and go by what this woman said, though he did not like the idea of someone else getting credit that he felt should rightfully be his.

* * *

Meanwhile, one of the terrorist Sutherlands fired its slash harkens into an enemy Sutherland's chest, knocking it back.

* * *

"They're using the same…" the pilot started to say, feeling the cockpit shudder.

* * *

Outside, two more pairs of slash harkens shot into the enemy Sutherland from below, completely disabling it as the slash harkins penetrated its sides.

* * *

"The enemy's moving towards G-2-8," one of Clovis's advisors reported from the G-1 Base as Rochelle, Bartley and Clovis watched the map as the tide of the battle started to shift in favour of the terrorists.

"Send Lazlo Squad," Bartley said in a tone of alarmed desperation, "No… I mean Glaube Squad."

"This means…" Clovis said, trying to mask the relief and excitement in his voice as he tried to sound surprised and horrified, "Terrorists have our military weaponry…?"

Rochelle was seething as she ground her teeth together as she glared at the map, watching as all their forces were being wiped out. Just how did this happen? The terrorists had somehow managed to acquire Sutherlands and were now shifting the battle in their favour. It was impossible… unless.

"You idiots, someone's helping them!" she roared furiously, causing many of those present to jump in fear, "We've obviously been betrayed. Someone among our forces has obviously developed a conscience and decided to come to the defence of those disgusting creatures out there that dare to think of themselves as human beings."

Clovis's face paled at hearing this. This woman was even more insane than he had first thought. Of course these people were human beings. They could walk, talk and experience emotions just like everyone else, but he knew that it was pointless telling Rochelle this. She had clearly allowed herself to become consumed in her grief over Euphemia's death and her grief had deluded her and now her delusion had warped her into this deceptively beautiful demon that only lusted for the absolute and utter destruction of the "Eleven"… no, the Japanese people. He finally understood. That's all that mattered to this despicable she-demon; the genocide of the Japanese people. He knew that it was not what Euphemia would have wanted and in fact, knew that Euphemia would be utterly shocked and appalled at her mother's behaviour. Once again, he had to wonder how a heartless tyrant like his father and a psychotic monster like Rochelle could have produced such a kind, sweet and innocent girl such as Euphemia. He knew that Rochelle's eldest daughter, Cornelia also hated the "Elevens", but she was not on a campaign to wipe them all out and was no where near as psychotic as her mother.

"The only disgusting creature here that dares thinks she's a human being is you, you murderous bitch," Clovis thought as he glared at the vile woman with venom in his eyes.

She had gone too far and apparently; looking around the room, he could tell that most, if not all his advisors felt the same... However, no one dared make a move to oppose her. They were all terrified of her and from the looks of it; they had every right to be terrified since it looked as if Rochelle had no qualms about killing any of them if they decided to stand in her way. Clovis only shook his head, knowing that the blame would ultimately fall on his head since he was the Viceroy and could easily put a stop to this, but his fear of Rochelle was too great and it was right that he was equally to blame for allowing Rochelle to carry this monstrous operation out, so some of the blame on his head was correctly placed.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kallen used her Glasgow's slash harkens to hoist the Glasgow up a building to its roof, catching an enemy Sutherland off guard as it turned to face her and activated its factsphere sensor; only to receive a punch to the front of the head from the Glasgow's only arm, causing it to fall and become severely damaged.

* * *

Back in the G-1 Base, the red "LOST" box appeared over another blue rectangle representing a Knightmare, indicating that it had been destroyed.

"Sir Glaube has ejected," one of the advisors reported in a slightly alarmed tone, "His unit's been lost."

"Change our codes," Bartley ordered, furiously in an enraged tone as he was clearly not happy that the Britannian Military were being made fools off be a group of would-be peasants from a numbered area, "They're intercepting our transmission."

"We already have sir; four times," one of the others replied.

"Then do it again!" Bartley shouted with rage in his voice.

"This failure is unacceptable!" Rochelle shouted with even greater rage in her voice, "I told you, one of our own has betrayed us!"

That had to be it, Rochelle figured. That was the only possible way the terrorists could have gained the upper hand. They could not have done so unless they had outside help. However, if that was the case, the just who was it? The thought of someone betraying them and helping those people absolutely repulsed her. They were vermin, pests; walking diseases that needed to be eradicated. How dare someone help them and ruin her fun. No one ruined her fun… no one. She'd make this traitor pay.

"No one crosses Rochelle li Britannia," she thought with an evil demonically furious edge in her voice, "No one. I'll slowly dismember this traitor alive and watch as he slowly bleeds to death."

"Uh, forgive us my Lady," Bartley said in response to Rochelle's statement as he turned round to look her in the eye, which caused him to tremble in fear.

Rochelle had nothing but bloodlust and murderous intent in her eyes and it terrified Bartley right to the very core. There was definitely something frightening about her as she glared with pure venomous hatred oozing out her eyes. Even Clovis, who was behind her, could feel it as Bartley saw him tremble in fear. This woman was not someone anyone wanted to cross. She was insane, she was delusional and she was a demon wearing the guise of a woman. Her rage was certainly demonic; that Bartley could not deny.

However, just when he thought things could not get any worse, a new window appeared on the monitor and in the window was a picture of one of the last people Bartley ever wanted to see for as long as he lived; Lloyd Asplund.

"Good afternoon," he greeted in a casually cheerful tone as if nothing bad was happening.

"What… is it?" Bartley roared furiously, only just managing to restrain himself from exploding, "We're in the middle of an operation here!"

He was already furious at the loses his forces were currently suffering at the hands of those… lowlifes and certainly did not need this psychotic lunatic adding to his already close-to-bursting-point rage.

"I'd say it's time to deploy the ASEEC special weapon," Lloyd responded in the same tone as before, not affected by Bartley's tone in the slightest.

"We've no time for this right now," Clovis said as he stood up from his throne, gathering up courage as he walked towards the steps that led down to the table.

He tried his best to sound furious in order to make it seem that he was agreeing to the massacre, though he knew that Rochelle probably knew the truth. However, he knew that Earl Asplund had been developing a new type of Knightmare that could easily mop the floor with all the other Knightmare models so far and knew that if he were to deploy it, it could tip the scales back in the Britannians' favour; something that he did not want as he knew that Rochelle would have their remaining forces resume the massacre with even more satisfaction than before. He knew that he had to play for time and delay the deployment of Lloyd's newest invention for as long as possible and hopefully, the terrorists would make it to the G-1 Base before he was forced to order its deployment.

* * *

On the battlefield, the side of a Britannian tank was punctured by a single bullet from a terrorist Sutherland, causing it to literally fall apart.

* * *

In the cockpit of Viletta's stolen Sutherland, Euphemia happily called the shots as she observed the terrorists pick off the Britannian forces.

"R2, fire anchor," she said, moving a black rook chess piece with her finger along the armrest of the cockpit's seat.

* * *

Up in the air outside, a VTOL gunship was taken down by a slash harken.

* * *

"P7, use UN ordinance," Euphemia ordered, moving a black pawn chess piece beside the rook.

* * *

A terrorist Sutherland fired into the side of a tank, causing it to tumble onto its side.

* * *

"N-group, you'll continue your advance," Euphemia said, holding the black knight chess piece up in front of her face.

* * *

A group of terrorist Sutherlands rolled in, firing their assault rifles at enemy Sutherlands as their pilots all gave a rather loud synchronised battle cry.

"You bloody Elevens!" one of the pilots of the four enemy Knightmares shouted as his Knightmare fired back along with the other three Knightmares with them as all four of them moved backwards.

However, they were soon assaulted with a barrage of bullets coming from behind them as a group of terrorist Sutherlands came rushing towards them as the group in front of them continued their advance, effectively taking them all out and causing them to explode.

* * *

"We've just lost Lazlo Squad," one of Clovis's advisors said back in the G-1 Base as the map indicated that four more Knightmares had been lost.

"So do it," Clovis said, walking up to the table with a serious look on his face, "We'll have to bring up Quincy Squad."

"My Lord, that would break the encirclement," Bartley protested as Rochelle gave him a curious and yet suspicious glance.

"Just what are you up to Clovis?" she wondered, though she had already guessed the answer.

However, she knew that despite Clovis's stance on this, he was not the traitor as he had been here with her this entire time and would have been unable to send messages to the terrorists or get a message out to the actual traitor without her or the others being aware of it. She knew this well and knew that even if he had managed to hide a communicator while acting depressed, she would have heard his voice, even if she had not been paying him any attention.

* * *

Meanwhile, Euphemia sat in the cockpit of the stolen Sutherland, waiting patiently with a patient look on her face.

"Now then, the enemy has five options," she said as she studied the map as assessed the possible courses of action that the enemy had open to them, "Their move."

"They could be so paranoid that they'll bring out their trump card," C.C. suggested with a hint of warning in her tone.

"You really are insufferable, you know that?" Euphemia said, glaring at the green-haired immortal, "You really are an expert in mood-killing."

"What can I say?" C.C. asked with a shrug in her usual neutral uncaring tone, "I guess you could say it's one of my favourite hobbies."

"I can believe that," Euphemia grumbled feeling rather annoyed.

* * *

"Reinforce the breach with some of the units guarding us," Clovis ordered in the G-1 Base, now deciding to actively take part in the hopes of stopping Rochelle's insidiously insane campaign, "All we know for certain is that enemy forces are here."

He then pointed to a dot on the map.

* * *

Back in the cockpit of Villetta's Sutherland, Euphemia sat waiting patiently as she twirled the king chess piece in her fingers.

"You have to admit, it is possible for the enemy to have a trump card," C.C. warned with a serious look on her face.

"I swear, if they do and you say or even look at me in a way that says "I told you so", I'll force the answers out of you and then I'll redo the restraints in that suit and dump you somewhere where no one will ever be able to find you again," Euphemia said with a hint of anger in her voice, which caused C.C. to shut up.

"That shut her up," Euphemia thought with a smile.

* * *

Outside, Jeremiah Gottwald, who had just managed to get out of the ejected cockpit of his Sutherland, noticed a group of Knightmares along with a few tanks and other military weaponry moving away from the encirclement that the Britannian forces had created to prevent anyone from escaping.

"Who ordered them to break formation?" he asked with a dumbfounded look on his face, "Have things really become that desperate?"

* * *

Back in the stolen Sutherland's cockpit, Euphemia watched the enemy forces on the map all converge on one area.

"That's an even stupider move than I expected," she mused with a small hint of surprise in her voice.

"Desperation and fear can cause even the most experienced to make amateurish mistakes," C.C. said as she also looked over the map.

"You know, that's the first encouraging sensible statement that's come out of your mouth since I first met you," Euphemia commented with a smirk, "Maybe you're not as annoying as I initially thought."

She then ought the communicator up to her ear.

"You, Q1, do you have an area map?" she asked Kallen through the communicator, looking down at the chess piece in her hand.

* * *

"Yes, I have a map of the old town," Kallen said from inside the cockpit of her Glasgow, "But, it has no current landmarks."

"It'll do," the woman's voice came over the Glasgow's communicator.

* * *

Back in the G-1 Base Centre, Rochelle looked on anxiously as Clovis had apparently decided to grow a spine and take charge, though she suspected that he was planning on sabotaging her operation in order to ensure that it failed. Well, if he succeeded, she'd just have to shut him up, wouldn't she? She could not afford for the truth to come out. Sure, Clovis would take the blame, but she feared that he found a way to take her down with him. She knew that if her part was discovered, she'd be divorced, disinherited and banished from the homeland. Charles had no room for those who he saw as hindrances and if her part was discovered, she'd be a major hindrance to him; one that he could easily discard as he truthfully had no knowledge of her project, though even if he did, she knew the result would be the same; he'd deny any involvement and would have her axed and that was something she was determined to avoid no matter what the cost.

"Alright," Clovis said, turning to face Bartley with a content smile on his face, "Send in Bertz and the others to."

* * *

"Mission number three now," Euphemia said from the stolen Sutherland's cockpit.

* * *

"Concentrate our forces there," Clovis said inside the G-1 Base, "Surround them."

* * *

"Is everything prepared," Euphemia asked through the communicator from her stolen Knightmare's cockpit feeing rather excited.

* * *

"The enemy's main force is that centre dot," Clovis said from the G-1 Base looking at the map that showed the Britannian Forces moving in on a red dot from all sides in which there was no clear means of escape.

"Finish every single one of them off," Rochelle said with an evil smirk as she licked her lips; her face adorning an inhuman smile, "I want this area painted red before the day is through."

Clovis cringed at this, but otherwise did his best to ignore her.

* * *

Inside the cockpit of the stolen Sutherland, Euphemia smirked.

"Idiotic fools," she mused to herself, wondering just who it was that was commanding the enemy forces though she suspected Clovis who was all too predictable "They fell for it as naïvely as a gullible child walking into a den of hungry lions."

* * *

Outside in the ghetto, an enemy Sutherland speed towards the location of red dot on the map, only to find nothing there aside from its on forces coming in from all other directions.

* * *

In the G-1 Base, the red dot on the map suddenly inexplicably vanished, much to everyone's surprise.

"What?" Rochelle said in disbelief as her rage started to build again, "Where's the enemy? Someone's making a fool out of us. I swear, I'll have their head for a trophy on my mantelpiece."

* * *

Meanwhile, underground just underneath where the Britannian forces were situated, two terrorist Sutherlands along with Kallen's red Glasgow moved into their assigned positions. The Glasgow stopped and its head faced upwards.

* * *

"With this, I call check," Euphemia said from inside the stolen Sutherland's cockpit as she placed the king chess piece down on the seat's arm rest.

* * *

Back underground, the Glasgow fired its slash harkens up at the ceiling, causing a hole to appear before the slash harkens recoiled.

* * *

Above ground, the ground beneath a group of enemy Sutherlands suddenly gave way, causing them all to fall downwards into the ground as their combined weight caused the weakened surface to crumble underneath them, sending up a cloud of dust into the air and the hole caused by the collapse continued to grow as more and more of the ground gave way, taking the rest of the Britannian forces with it.

* * *

In the G-1 Base, Rochelle, Bartley and the advisors all looked in horror as "LOST" boxes appeared over all their remaining forces. Clovis however feigned horror, though inwardly, he was glad that something like this had happened. That was exactly what he had been counting on. However, it left him wondering, just who was the terrorists' leader? Whoever it was, they certainly had some skills when it came to strategy.

* * *

Back inside the stolen Sutherland's cockpit, Euphemia let out an evil laugh as witnessed all the remaining Britannian forces fall into the ground.

"My plan worked, didn't it?" she said excitedly as she leaned forward, "I can do it; I can. I can defeat Britannia."

"Don't get ahead of yourself," C.C. warned with a serious look on her face, "It's the enemy's move now and like I said, they may have an ace in the hole."

"Oh shut up," Euphemia said, blowing C.C. off, waving her a dismissive hand, "What could those fools possibly have that could turn the tables back in their favour?"

"I honestly don't know, but you may have a surprise up their sleeve," C.C. replied, seemingly not affected by Euphemia's dismissive attitude, "Always expect the unexpected."

* * *

Back in the G-1 Base, Rochelle took a few steps back looking at the map in horror and disbelief. How could this happen? Things were going so well until just like that; out of the blue, the terrorists gained the upper hand with no possible explanation as to how or why. It was impossible. Just who was it that decided to help them?

"Who… who in the hell are we up against?" she asked no one in particular as she took a few steps back, "What if… he's even better than Tohdoh?"

She practically spat the name, Tohdoh with venom and hate as she said his name. Kyoshiro Tohdoh was a high-ranking member of the Japan Liberation Front who was famous for the only battle in the Japan/Britannia war that Britannia lost at the island of Itsukushima in Japan's inland sea. He had somehow managed to defeat the Britannians without the use of a Knightmare Frame and had earned the title, "Tohdoh of Miracles" or "Tohdoh the Miracle Worker" and that battle was known as the Miracle of Itsukushima. Tohdoh was feared and despised among the Britannian military forces as he had also managed to pull off seemingly impossible feats against Britannia over the seven years since they occupied Japan. He was clearly a force to be reckoned with and not someone anyone would want to take lightly Tohdoh was considered to be so much of a threat to Britannia that the Britannians had issued a very high bounty on his head for the person who turned him in.

However, he could not be here, could he? No, it had to be someone else; someone just as good as if not… though it did not seem possible, better than him Rochelle figured.

"Lloyd!" she screamed at the monitor, which still displayed the window with Lloyd waiting patiently to be addressed.

"Yes my Lady," Lloyd said in a gleeful tone as if he was expecting the outcome and knew that desperation would force them to resort to what he had planned.

"Can it win?" Rochelle asked in a slightly apprehensive tone as she also did not like this troublesome man, "Will your toy beat them?"

"Huh, my Lady, please be so kind as to call it Lancelot," Lloyd replied, clearly not all that pleased at having his latest invention labelled as a toy, though he maintained his composure with a professional tone.

"I'll call it whatever the hell I damn want you insufferable parasite!" Rochelle snapped, glaring back at the man on the monitor as everyone else, including Lloyd jumped at the fury in her voice, "It can be called Mud as far as I'm concerned, just so long as it can wipe the floor with those vermin, I don't care what it can do."

"Touchy today, aren't we my Lady?" Lloyd said, earning a glare from Rochelle.

"Lloyd, just do as she says," Clovis cut in with a sigh before Rochelle had a chance to reply, "Deploy your Lancelot or whatever its called."

"Certainly Your Highness," Lloyd replied, clearly having decided not to push his luck as he knew Rochelle was quite a frightening person if rubbed the wrong way, "At least you appreciate it enough to give it its proper name."

"Just do it!" Clovis snapped back before sighing heavily.

It was what he had been hoping to avoid, but unfortunately it was not meant to be. He knew that if he declined Lloyd's offer, it would draw suspicion and play right into Rochelle's hands and she'd no doubt have him killed. Once again, he felt sickened that he had ordered a massacre as he knew that once Lloyd's Lancelot was deployed, the terrorists would have no hope for victory, unless their leader discovered a way to improvise. Whoever was calling the shots was undoubtably good at strategy; perhaps even better than Kyoshiro Tohdoh himself and he was known for overcoming odds that would have been impossible for anyone else to overcome. He just hoped that the terrorists' leader could pull a rabbit out of the hat.

* * *

**Author's Notes **– That's got to be my longest chapter yet. Sorry for the delayed update by the way, but real life got in the way. Anyway, now that Euphemia has managed to help the terrorists gain the upper hand, what now? Will she be able to improvise and find a way to defeat the Lancelot? Will she manage to penetrate the G-1 Base and kill her mother like she said she would? Will she carry out her threat regarding C.C. as C.C. is the type that seems to radiate, "I told you so" if her appearance at Saitama and meeting up with Lelouch afterwards is anything to go by. Anyway, as you can guess, I write some paragraphs from the points of view of some on the characters, like Rochelle denouncing the Japanese people. That non-speech marked section was just Rochelle's opinion on the Japanese People. I also had Clovis participate because I didn't want him to be totally useless as it could potentially draw suspicions from his advisors. I'm also considering omakes in future, like for example, can you guess the new paint job given to Jeremiah's Sutherland? Anyway, till next time.


	7. Enter Lancelot

**Code Geass – Euphemia of the Revelation**

**Enter Lancelot**

**Disclaimer **– Code Geass is the property of Sunrise, Bandai Entertainment and Ichiro Okouchi, so I don't own anything afflicted with Code Geass.

* * *

**Warnings **– Strong language, strong violence, Euphemia OOC (obviously), yuri, possible lemons in later chapters (unsure)

* * *

In front of the G-1 Base in the Shinjuku Ghetto, two tanks sat in front of the Command Centre at either side as a huge gurney rose up from a horizontal to a vertical position as a recorded message reported what was happening. A group of would-be terrorists had stolen a top secret project and now the Britannians were trying to retrieve it. Unfortunately, Lady Rochelle li Britannia had ordered that the forces kill everyone in the ghetto. However, the terrorists somehow acquired Sutherlands and had gained the upper hand, which led to Rochelle ordering Lloyd Asplund to deploy his latest invention.

"Z-01 Lancelot now activating," the recorded message played with a female voice, "Lancelot activating. Releasing hatch."

The bottom of the gurney touched the floor as the platforms; each with a foot of a Knightmare Frame resting on it light up a bright yellow light that travelled along a line near the ground from right to left, very much like an energy bar filling up. A bar between the two platforms also lit up in the same fashion.

"Z-01 Lancelot, stand by for activation," the female voice went on as Lloyd and Cecile watched a computer monitor that fed them the data for the activation sequence, "Power start-up initiated."

The gurney then stopped as it became completely vertical and moved forward slightly.

* * *

"Did you read the manual?" Cecile's voice over a communicator as she spoke to Suzaku Kururugi, who was currently getting into a black and white jumpsuit with yellow outline that separated black from white that also made up the Special Corp's insignia at both sides of the collar's from and also had two green diamond like shapes at the sides of the shoulders near the top of the forearms along with white gloves and he had the activation key slung round his right thumb as he zipped up the suits front.

"Pretty much," he replied to Cecile through the communicator attached at the right side of his face.

"Well done," Cecile commented through the communicator in an impressed tone, "You scored at the top of the class in the simulator."

"Hey look… about what you told me earlier," Suzaku said with a hint of worry and concern in his voice, though his expression maintained its seriousness as he started to walk out the ambulance.

"Huh?" Cecile said in a moment of brief confusion before realising what he meant, "Uh… it could be… but the possibility is nearly zero."

The doors of the ambulance opened at he walked outside.

"But that means there's still a chance, right?" Suzaku asked, still concerned over Euphemia and that mysterious girl's safety as he feared that they had already been killed.

Four VTOL gunships passed by overhead as at the side of the huge gurney, a valve moved into place, moving towards the huge Knightmare draped in the black tarpaulin and stopped as it reached a railing that blocked its path.

"Yes, I'm afraid that's true," Cecile acknowledged with a sigh over the communicator, "Even so, you're not to do anything reckless; the new system is not operated with an ejection mechanism yet."

"Okay, I understand Miss Cecile," Suzaku stated with a nod.

As they were talking, the restraints binding the arms and shoulders; two restraints for each arm and one from each shoulder of the huge Knightmare Frame started hissing as it appeared as if they were releasing air before they removed themselves and the black tarpaulin that draped over the Knightmare blew off. Suzaku looked up at the unique Knightmare Frame was a look of pure astonishment

"That's it?" he said as the Knightmare was revealed and the wind blew through his hair, though he was too astonished to pay it any mind.

"Yes, the advanced weapon developed by us in the Advanced Special Envoy Engineering Corp; Lancelot, the world's first seventh generation Knightmare Frame," Cecile explained as Suzaku continued to look in astonishment, unsure what to say.

The Knightmare itself was mainly white with golden highlights, grey hands and shoulder joints and what, at first glance appeared to be a red jewel embedded in its chest shaped a bit like a coffin. Unlike the heads of the Glasgows and Sutherlands, the head of this Knightmare looked more human with green eyes and a golden mask that supposedly covered the nose and mouth and a white helmet. It also appeared to have arm guards on its lower arms and shin guards on its lower legs and also white armour over the tops of the shoulders protruding outwards to the side.

* * *

"Well if you're ready Suzaku, shall we proceed with the initial start-up?" Lloyd asked from inside the SRDT that brought the gurney carrying the Lancelot to the ghetto.

The control centre was based at the end of the SRDT where the Lancelot's feet currently were and Lloyd, Cecile and a third person stood with Cecile to the right and the other person to the left, each of them looking over a control board and Lloyd stood in the middle.

"Initial start-up now proceeding from phase twenty," Cecile reported as outside, an orange rectangular box moved towards a gap in the Lancelot's back, "Equipping energy filler."

The energy filler was inserted as inside the Lancelot; the Yggdrasil Drive those centre piece was known as the Core Luminous started to light up, revealing a bluish grey cube with a pointed spike above it and another below it and four probes pointing toward it at its side in an X formation as the start-up data continued to display on the monitors.

"Initiating devicer setup," Cecile stated in a neutrally professional tone.

* * *

Meanwhile Suzaku made his way to the Lancelot's cockpit seat and sat down as the seat moved into the cockpit. He then inserted the activation-key into its slot, ignoring the recorded message that was heard in the background. He then took the controls, two levers in his hands, pushing the button at the top of each one and inside the Yggdrasil Drive, the four probes started to slowly circle round the cube, everything of which was submerged in liquid as it entered as entered a state of drive activation known as the Yggdrasil Resonance.

* * *

"So far, it's going per the data," Lloyd commented from the control centre, feeling rather excited as it was his latest invention's big debut.

* * *

Outside, the ambulances all immediately drove away rather quickly so as to give the Lancelot room to launch.

With the Lancelot, the left hand did a quick 360-degree rotation before the right hand punched the ground as Lloyd and Cecile both looked on. The cables holding the landspinners in place detached and recoiled and the landspinners fell to the ground in a 90-degree turn.

* * *

"Lancelot; activate M-E boost," Suzaku said with a serious expression on his face.

* * *

Inside the Yggdrasil Drive, the cube had changed to a bright glowing red colour as everything round about it started to spin round as a fast pace as the Yggdrasil Resonance started to get to work.

* * *

Outside, the wheels of the Lancelot's landspinners started spinning, whirling up dust and creating an upward wind behind each of its feet.

"Lancelot; launch," Cecile said over a communicator as the Lancelot shot off like a speeding bullet and quickly disappeared into the ghetto.

* * *

In the control centre of the SRDT, Lloyd laughed with a huge smile on his face as Cecile and the other person ducked for cover behind the control panels as the wind from Lancelot's launch blew in their direction.

"Running full throttle right out of the gate," Lloyd said, not caring for the wind as he was just ecstatic that he finally managed to get an opportunity to show off his latest invention.

* * *

Meanwhile, Lancelot continued to travel at high speed as Suzaku felt a wave of excitement wash over him., feeling rather excited.

"Wow, cooler than the manual," he said with excitement in his voice, "With this I can…"

He suddenly felt a pain in his back, causing him to trail off as he grunted and placed his left hand over the right side of his body. He realised that he could not afford to get ahead of himself as he had not fully recovered from that bullet wound that the leader of the Royal Guard had given him and he also reminded himself of what Cecile had told him. He could not afford to become reckless either as if he got into trouble, he would be unable to eject and with the possibility of Euphemia and that girl could still be saved in mind, he decided to get down to business. He could not afford to showboat as arrogance could lead to him making a mistake and the terrorists would no doubt capitalise on that mistake.

* * *

Shinichiro Tamaki was still rather infuriated. He was forced to take orders from an unknown woman who could potentially be an enemy lulling them into a false sense of security. However, what infuriated him even more was that he knew that he would not be the one who would ultimately get the credit if it did indeed end up that this woman was really helping them. He wanted the glory. He wanted to be acknowledged as a hero and the fact he had to take orders, even from Naoto when he was alive and Ohgi really got to him. He had a problem with authority.

However, before he could ponder further, he then noticed something appear on his monitor.

"Huh, what is that?" he said in a confused tone as he saw an unfamiliar Knightmare appear in the street.

He tried to lock onto the new Knightmare, but it quickly shot towards him in a zigzag pattern, moving to its right, then left and then in front of him.

"That doesn't look like a Sutherland," he said before the new Knightmare was right up at him before he knew what was going on and delivered a punch to his Sutherland's head, causing it to fall on its back, causing major damage.

* * *

Meanwhile, Euphemia chuckled from inside the cockpit of the Sutherland she had stolen from Purist member, Villetta Nu as she watched the monitor, completely unaware of Tamaki's plight.

"Another push and the checkpoint will fall," she mused to herself as C.C. looked on with a concerned look on her face.

Euphemia was seeing this too much like a game in her opinion and obviously did not believe that the enemy had a trump card. However, despite the fact that C.C. did not know either, she at least knew that it was a possibility. Euphemia on the other hand completely dismissed the notion. She was getting rather cocky in the immortal's opinion. She had not won yet and from her attitude, it was clear that she believed she already had.

"This is B group, reporting enemy presence," one of the terrorists said through the Knightmare's communicator

"Hmm, reinforcements?" Euphemia mused with a shrug, "Real battle is different, isn't it?"

She then brought the communicator she had acquired from the truck to her ear.

"Status?" she demanded simply.

"Everyone ejected," the man reported, "But they took out four units in nothing flat."

"Enemy numbers?" Euphemia asked with a frown.

Of course she could not expect to get through this without suffering some casualties she figured.

"Just one," the man reported, much to Euphemia's surprise, "I think it's a new model, never seen anything… AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

His scream was followed by static and Euphemia started to become concerned.

"What's happening out there?" she demanded, feeling even more annoyed as she felt C.C.'s gaze fall on her with a rather neutral look on her face, though Euphemia knew that she was thinking something along the lines of "I told you so".

"Say just one word and you'll regret it," she warned, shooting the immortal green-haired woman a dissatisfying glare.

* * *

Meanwhile, the top half of a Sutherland that had been firing on the new Knightmare had just been blown off as dust blew upwards and seemed to emit an electrical spark. However, the dust soon blew away revealing a single Knightmare Frame. The sides of its upper chest opened up, revealing two factsphere sensors before closing again. It then brought its right arm up in front of itself and for a brief moment, a green energy shield appeared before disappearing, though the elbow end of the Knightmare's arm guard continued to glow a green colour near the centre.

"Bastard!" the voice of one of the terrorists boomed through the PA system as a group of terrorist Sutherlands opened fire on the new Knightmare

However, the new Knightmare dropped its right arm and brought forward its left as a similar energy shield appeared and deflected the bullets away from it.

* * *

"What, it reflects bullets?" Euphemia said from inside Villetta's cockpit as she now managed to see what was going on.

"Gah, what'll we do?" one of the terrorists voices came over the communicator, "Ishida… AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Euphemia withdrew the communicator from her ear and seethed at how the tables had turned yet again.

"Useless so-called terrorists," she thought angrily, "With all the resources they have; to be beaten by just one unit."

"The enemy's trump card," C.C. commented, causing Euphemia to groan furiously.

"I hate you," she replied with a groan, "You also seem to enjoy rubbing the fact that you were right in my face, don't you?"

C.C. just shrugged with a neutral expression on her face.

* * *

Meanwhile, the new Knightmare fired off a slash harken at a Sutherland's head that was situated in its arm guard. The shot decapitated the Sutherland. However, what happened next was nothing short of astonishing to say the least. The Knightmare manoeuvred the recoiling Slash harken, much like a whip fired off the other in the other arm into the ground and somehow the momentum carried the Knightmare into the air as another Sutherland looked up.

"Damn it," came the pilot's voice over the PA system as he shot up at it.

However, the Knightmare deflected the bullets with both its slash harkens as they recoiled. What happened next was nothing short of unbelievable. The Knightmare then plummeted down and somehow manoeuvred its leg in such a way that it brought the bottom of its foot crashing down on the Sutherland's head. The other foot was currently on the ground in its normal position.

* * *

"Yes, I can do this," Suzaku commented from inside the Lancelot's cockpit, "With Lancelot I can stop all this at once."

He then moved to move the Lancelot forward.

* * *

Two Sutherlands arrived at the scene to find the two decimated machines.

"P4, P5, hold there," the mysterious woman's voice came and the two Knightmares stopped, "When the rear units arrive, surround that thing."

"Gotcha," one of the terrorist pilots replied as the two Sutherlands starting firing at the new Knightmare, which was speeding towards them.

The resulting shootout whipped up a dust cloud, but the new Knightmare appeared through the cloud unharmed and opening its slash harken restraint on its arm, proceeded to quickly slash one of the Sutherlands without firing off the slash harken itself, decapitating it and then slashed off the arm holding the assault rifle of the other.

"We can't stop it," the terrorist inside the cockpit screamed in a panicked tone as his Knightmare fired off its slash harkens, but the new Knightmare moved for the gap between them and fired one of its own into the Sutherland's side, causing it to fall apart as it recoiled.

* * *

"P units, what is it?" Euphemia said from Villetta's Sutherland's cockpit as she glared at the monitor and listened to the communicator.

However, unfortunately, all she heard was static and she could not help but go into shock.

"What happened?" she asked herself, unable to believe just how things were now going wrong, "Something I didn't foresee?"

"I did warn you," C.C. said, speaking in an "I told you so" way, "But no, you wouldn't listen to me. The enemy did indeed have a trump card."

"Okay, so I got overconfident," Euphemia said with a growl, "No need to rub it in."

She could not stand the possibility of defeat; not when she had a clear chance at striking out at the Empire that her father commanded as well as kill her mother for her genocide campaign against the Japanese people. She had come too far to give up now. She was determined that she would kill her mother no matter what and the fact that the enemy had something that was now rendering that impossible caused her blood to boil. It was not right; her mother was on a campaign of genocide and had to be stopped and since she knew that faking her own death was no doubt the root cause of her mother's campaign, she felt obligated to be the one that put an end to it. Now that her plans were falling apart and she had no plan B, as she had felt that she did not need one only served to infuriate her.

"No, this isn't happening?" she said to herself, shooting C.C. a warning glare to prevent her from making another comment that would no doubt rub her failure in her face.

C.C. opened her mouth, but upon seeing Euphemia's glare, closed it, deciding that pushing her luck would be a mistake. No doubt her attitude was part of the problem she figured. She remembered Euphemia's threat earlier and though she had only said that to keep her quiet, C.C. could not help but wonder if there was a seed of truth in there somewhere. Euphemia was indeed rather hard to read and unpredictable. She still had not come to terms with killing the Royal Guardsman and now she was on the path to kill her mother, overthrow her father and quite possibly kill him as well. It sort of scared C.C. in a way that she never imagined could exist.

"Euphemia, please don't lose yourself," she thought worryingly, "Damn it Charles, you may very well unleash a monster yet; one that could prove more than you can possibly handle. She may very well prove more than you safely bargained for."

* * *

In the G-1 Base, Rochelle, Clovis and Clovis's advisors all watched the map, feeling rather pleased that things had turned back in their favour, or at least Rochelle did. Clovis and his advisors all looked on in horror as they knew that the terrorists were done for.

"For heavens sake, now I'll owe that overly pompous prick Schneizel a debt that I'd rather not have to incur," Rochelle said in a somewhat disappointed tone; not too pleased at having to rely on the Special Corp or Camelot as it was commonly known to finish the massacre.

Lloyd Asplund and his team had been funded by Second Prince Schneizel, but upon arriving in "Area Eleven", Schneizel withdrew his funding and Clovis had generously taken over. However, Rochelle did not like having to rely on anything associated with Schneizel. He was the Prime Minister of Britannia, but Rochelle could honestly say that she did not like Schneizel el Britannia one bit and the thing that confused her was, she did not know why. Maybe it was because he came off as somewhat cocky and it reminded her of Marianne; not that Schneizel's mother was a commoner… far from it; however, in Rochelle's opinion, Schneizel was young and in a position of power that superseded her own, plus Schneizel had proved to be better than she was at strategising only served to infuriate her.

"It's for the best though," she said, waving it off.

Rochelle definitely had a massive superiority complex and it was not just confined to commoners, but those younger than her as well. Maybe that's why she hated Schneizel so much. He was younger than her and yet better than her in certain areas. She remembered how she lived in the shadow of her younger sister, Danielle; something that she absolutely reviled as she firmly believed that being older than those round about her meant that she was better than them. Schneizel had proven that wrong countless times.

However, in her desperation right now, she decided that it was best to suck up her pride for now and accept help, though she did not like Lloyd Asplund that much as he seemed to deliberately go out of his way just to annoy people for the sheer hell of it.

* * *

Back out in the ghetto, a Sutherland was smashed into a building where as another was sent falling to the ground as the new Knightmare continued to dominate the battle. The remaining Sutherlands continued to fire their assault rifles at it as it appeared between two buildings, but the Knightmare handily dodged the bullets, using the two buildings at either side to springboard itself away from the hail of bullets and performed a midair twirl before rushing at one Sutherland and practically clotheslined it to the ground, even as its pilot, Kaname Ohgi screamed in fear.

* * *

"P1, report," Euphemia said from Villetta's cockpit as she heard Ohgi's scream, but was only met with static.

Groaning to herself, she then looked on ahead with disbelief clearly written all over her face.

"Can it really only be one mere unit?" she asked no one in particular as she was still unable to comprehend how just one Knightmare could possibly decimate so many others like it was a stroll at the park.

"It's probably the Special Corp's work," C.C. said in response, "I heard that they were working on the next generation of Knightmare, but that's all I know. It seems that we're up against the prototype for Britannia's seventh generation of Knightmare Frames."

"A prototype, huh?" Euphemia said in a neutral tone, clearly struggling to contain her anger, "Which means, it probably has a few bugs in the works."

* * *

Meanwhile, the Lancelot continued its work as inside the Yggdrasil Drive, everything continued to spin round the cube as the Yggdrasil Resonance even started to accelerate.

* * *

"These readings are even higher than predicted," Cecile reported inside the control centre of the SRDT as she looked over a monitor on a control panel.

"It's because our pilot is taking his job very seriously," Lloyd commented after he adjusted his glasses, though he was a bit disappointed that Suzaku was getting down to business instead of showing off as he wanted to see what his newest invention could do for as long as possible; but still, the data that was being collected so far was enough to please him.

* * *

In the ghetto, the terrorist Sutherlands continued to fall as the new Knightmare rose into the air with its arms spread wide as its slash harkens recoiled and crisscrossed in front of it as they did so.

* * *

Inside the Lancelot's cockpit, Suzaku maintained a serious expression as he held a hand to his wounded side, clearly not having fully recovered from the wound and the intensity of piloting the Lancelot only seemed to make it worse and aggravate the wound even more. However, Suzaku did his best to ignore the pain. He still had a job to do and he was determined to see it through.

"If I can stop all of the Knightmares, then this battle is over," he thought, remembering Euphemia and that mysterious girl in the capsule and how he needed to save them, "No matter what it takes, I've got to save Euphie and that girl."

His display monitor scanned the area and a red box with the word, "ALERT" in yellow lettering directed his attention towards a building and the crosshairs locked onto a hole in the wall off the building's upper floor and he activated the thermal imaging and noticed a heat source inside.

"Huh?" he said before determination flooded his eyes, "So the enemy's leader is hiding there?"

* * *

Outside, the new Knightmare pointed its arm at the building and fired its slash harken at an area of the outside wall above the hole and started to reel itself towards the building and upwards.

* * *

"Huh?" Euphemia said from inside the stolen Sutherland's cockpit as the display monitor displayed the scene outside and showed a cable just outside the hole in the wall.

However, before she could react, she saw the new Knightmare as it reached the floor she was on and then it came speeding towards her before she could even gasp and punched the Sutherland, taking out one of the outside cameras and Euphemia felt the whole room shudder.

"You mean this thing's what's ruining my plans?" she said in astonishment.

"It would appear so," C.C. replied simply.

* * *

Outside, the Sutherland had somehow managed to block the new Knightmare's fist with its arm; the one holding the assault rifle, but it was clear that the new Knightmare was stronger as it started to push the Sutherland back.

* * *

"Are you the guy that's in command?" Suzaku said from inside the Lancelot's cockpit, guessing that this was the enemy commander due to the red markings on the Sutherland's head and shoulders whereas the other Sutherlands did not have those markings.

However, what he did not know was that those markings were only used on Sutherlands belonging to members of the Purist Faction in order to distinguish them from the normal Sutherlands, but since it was obviously stolen and was the only one left and was in hiding, Suzaku had guessed correctly in that it was the enemy's leader.

* * *

"Nothing more than a pilot," Euphemia spat with bitter fury in her voice from inside the Sutherland's cockpit; not happy that one man had single handily decimated her forces, "How dare you ruin…?"

* * *

Outside, the combined weight of the Sutherland and the new Knightmare, not to mention the tension caused by their struggle caused the floor underneath them to give way, causing them both to fall. However, instead of breaking their fall, the next floor down gave way as well due to the momentum of their descent and the same was true for the next floor and they continued to plummet to the ground floor as dust rose up and out of each new hole, creating massive dust clouds that all merged into one.

* * *

"We've no choice, we've gotta get outta here," Euphemia said to C.C. as they felt the Sutherland land on its back.

However, looking at the monitor, she noticed the new Knightmare high above her machine as the dust settled and it performed a sort of spinning technique before it dived downwards towards her at a quick rate.

"Your piloting skills suck," C.C. said in her usual annoying calm neutral tone, "He may be a pilot, but he's a really good one to be able to pull moves of like that."

* * *

Outside, the Sutherland quickly manoeuvred to block as it got back on its feet and brought its arms up to block a punch, but the momentum of the punch sent the Sutherland flying and it landed back on its back once again.

* * *

Inside the Sutherland's cockpit, Euphemia groaned in fury as she knew that she would not be able to beat that thing.

"That thing doesn't move like a Knightmare," she said to herself aloud, "Just who the hell's piloting it? The only person I know that could probably do stuff like that with a Knightmare is Lady Marianne and she's dead."

C.C. raised an eyebrow at the mention of the name, Marianne.

"What you mean Marianne the Flash?" she asked curiously, "The one whose skills as a Knightmare pilot were so phenomenal that it earned her the rank, Knight of Six?"

"Yeah, you know her?" Euphemia asked curiously as she raised a curious eyebrow.

"It was one of the reasons your mother had me imprisoned in that godforsaken capsule," C.C. admitted with a hint of real fury in her voice, "She did not like Marianne one bit and I was a friend of hers, which was why your mother wanted to make me as uncomfortable as possible."

Euphemia just nodded after a moment of hesitation.

"R-right, well you can tell me later," she said before turning her attention back to the monitor with a serious look on her face, "Right now we have this monstrosity to worry about."

* * *

Outside, the new Knightmare moved in to finish the Sutherland off, but Kallen's red Glasgow quickly moved to punch the new Knightmare, but the nightmare caught the fist in its hand.

* * *

"Hey, I'm returning the favour," Kallen said from inside the cockpit, referring to when the woman had saved her from Jeremiah and hinting that she wanted the Sutherland to make its getaway.

* * *

Euphemia's eyes widened from inside the Sutherland's cockpit and she immediately got the hint and moved to make her getaway.

"Someone up there must really like you," C.C. joked, though her tone was calm and neutral as usual.

"I suppose so," Euphemia replied, deciding to play along in an attempt to surprise the immortal girl as a means of revenge for killing her mood earlier.

* * *

Outside, the Sutherland had already made its getaway and the Glasgow fired one of its slash harkens at the new Knightmare, but the Knightmare caught it in its hand and ripped it out, causing the entire frame to short circuit.

* * *

Inside the Glasgow's cockpit, Kallen looked on as fear started to creep into her mind since she had known all along that her machine was no match for this monster of a Knightmare. She looked on as the Knightmare continued to pull and its slash harken recoiled as electrical sparks started to frazzle her control panel.

"I c-can't," she said with a hint of fear in her voice.

* * *

Outside, the new Knightmare backed away as the Glasgow dropped to one knee as sparks started to shoot out from the hole left behind at it had ripped off its slash harken.

* * *

Inside the Glasgow's cockpit, knowing that she had not other options, she reached for the ejection mechanism, hoping that it had not been shorted out and pushed the button and was relieved to find that it was still operable.

* * *

Outside, the upper half of the Glasgow that was above the cockpit area flew off backwards as the cockpit fired off to safety.

* * *

Meanwhile, Euphemia was hurryingly making her getaway along a street in Villetta's stolen Sutherland, which had managed to come out o the skirmish with that new Knightmare without any major damage.

"I must remember that… the most vital element in battle is the human one," she said to herself.

"Well said," C.C. commented simply, "Maybe now you won't treat this all like one big board game."

Euphemia opened her mouth to reply; clearly on her last nerve with the immortal girl's neutral tone, but a beeping sound caught her attention.

* * *

Outside, the new Knightmare came in behind the Sutherland and was quickly closing the gap between them. The Sutherland turned its upper half round and fired off its assault rifle at the approaching Knightmare, but the new Knightmare easily and quickly weaved its way forward as it avoided the bullets. However, seeing how ineffective it was, the Sutherland started shooting at the buildings on either side, causing parts to fall off and obstruct the Knightmare's path. However, the Knightmare activated its factsphere sensors and easily weaved its way through the falling obstructions and even jumped and ducked.

* * *

"That damn monster's unstoppable," Euphemia growled, looking back from inside the Sutherland's cockpit, "Is that thing really a Knightmare or just a giant decked in armour and roller blades?"

It definitely did not move like a normal Knightmare, that was for sure. It moved like some kind of ninja and Euphemia knew that whoever the pilot was, he had to be pretty good in order to pull moves like that off without damaging the Knightmare itself. He was definitely on his way to becoming just as good, if not better than Lady Marianne herself, that much was for sure. Stuff like that would have been nothing more than child's play to her.

* * *

The new Knightmare continued the chase, ploughing through the dust and debris that was around it.

* * *

"Bastard, he's tearing things up for no reason," Suzaku growled from inside the Lancelot's cockpit as he glared ahead, furious that the Sutherland's pilot was being so reckless.

However, before he could think about it, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye, which caused him to look to his side.

* * *

Outside, a woman screamed as she fell towards the ground, clutched a baby in her arms having obviously been caught up in the Sutherland's shooting in an attempt to seek refuge and the shooting had caused her to fall from her hiding place.

The new Knightmare immediately turned in the direction of the falling woman, giving up the chase and jumped into the air and caught the woman in its hand even as the Sutherland continued to make its getaway.

* * *

"In the midst of battle, he rescues someone," Euphemia said with evident surprise and astonishment on her face, "Even though he's been ordered to slaughter everyone he finds?"

"He needs to ease his conscience somehow," C.C. spoke up as she explained, "It's how killers are able to live with themselves when they kill countless others. In order to ease and placate their consciences, they spare someone every now and then for whatever reason. Maybe its because they remind them of a loved on or maybe it's because they remind them of themselves before they became killers; stuff like that."

"Humph, I'll concede you the tactical victory here," Euphemia said, having heard C.C. and reaching for the Sutherland's ejection mechanism, "Nevertheless."

* * *

Outside, the Sutherland's cockpit detached from the frame, getting ready to blast off.

* * *

Meanwhile at the SRDT control centre, Suzaku's rescue of the woman had been captured on the monitor by Cecile and the other person in the room, who had just reported it to Lloyd.

"Huh, he saved someone?" Lloyd said turning to face them, though he sounded rather surprised and intrigued.

"Yes, so it would seem," the man confirmed.

"Hmm, it's very strange of him," Lloyd replied as he turned and started to walk off, though from the sound of his tone, he clearly did not care and found it rather intriguing to say the least.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Lancelot had just placed the woman on the ground and the woman looked up at the Knightmare Frame with fear and panic in her eyes as she continued to clutch her child close to her chest. To her, the Knightmare looking down at her was menacing and believing that it was gong to kill her, she turned and fled as she screamed… clearly too scared and confused why it had saved her seeing how it was one of Britannia's weapons.

* * *

Inside the Lancelot's cockpit, Suzaku was rather surprised at the woman's action and started to feel somewhat depressed. He had just saved that woman's life and yet, instead of thanking him, she had fled as if the Lancelot was some kind of monster.

"Suzaku," Cecile's voice came as Suzaku turned to see her image on the display monitor, momentarily forgetting about the woman, "Are you tired? We'll call it quits for today."

"No, I'm fine," Suzaku said as he brought the Lancelot back into an upright position, "Please let me keep going."

* * *

"But careful with his operational time," Lloyd shouted from outside the SRDT out in the ghetto with a military tank guarding it nearby.

"Yes sir!" Cecile called back from inside the SRDT.

"My, that boy's an excellent piece of equipment," he mused to himself as two soldiers walked up to the Command Centre behind him, though he paid them no mind.

* * *

Euphemia and C.C. who had somehow managed to acquire two soldier uniforms walked up to the guard stationed at the G-1 Base's entrance. The guard immediately raised his gun, pointing it at the two disguised girls.

"Stop there!" he warned, ready to fire as he was aware that they could be terrorists in disguise, "Your IDs! This is Prince Clovis's personal transport."

"At last, the checkpoint," Euphemia said as she removed the helmet and shook her head her long pink hair waved in the air as it fell, "And barely guarded per my plan."

"Your plan?" the guard said, getting ready to open fire, assuming that the terrorists had somehow managed to recruit Britannians who were sympathetic towards them.

"That's right, now I'd like you to let us pass," Euphemia said in a commanding tone that seemed to expect no defiance.

The guard moved to open fire, but suddenly, a strange sensation came over him causing him to relax.

"Yes ma'am, understood," he said as Euphemia had already activated her Geass.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kallen was running through the ghetto, looking for a place to hide as she knew that if she was caught, she was done for. She had discarded the cockpit and was now running by an old warehouse to her left with a big green garage like door.

"Kallen!" Ohgi called, running out of the warehouse via a normal door and motioned her to follow him, pointing at the door.

* * *

Inside the warehouse, all the survivors were all huddled together in a big high-rise room with rectangular lights hanging from the ceiling, hoping that they would not be found as they knew that if they were found, they'd be dead. However, tempers flared as fear started to grip the people in hiding and the residents knew who the terrorists were and some decided to blame them for the current situation in an attempt to help see them through.

"It's all your fault," a man said angrily, "This is what happens when you oppose the Britannians!"

"What?" Tamaki, who had managed to eject from his Sutherland before it was destroyed by the new Knightmare, "Why you gutless coward."

"How many people were killed because of this?" a woman screamed as she fell to her knees, clenching her eyes shut with her hands on the sides of her head, crying at how everything seemed to be going to Hell.

"Shut up," Tamaki said with gritted teeth as he brandish a machine gun dangerously at the residents, daring them to challenge him further, "Do you know how many of us were killed or captured, do ya?"

In truth, he was absolutely seething. He knew that he was to blame for not sticking to plan and yet, having people just come out and say it and with nothing to say in his defence caused his blood to boil. He hated being proven wrong and looked down on. In his mind, everything should go his way and his way alone. It was the right way, he told himself and the fact that he was proven wrong was something he could not stomach, plus he wanted all the credit for himself and viewed himself as being better than everyone else; no matter if they were Britannian or Japanese.

In his current mood, he was angry enough to shoot someone and if it was not a Britannian soldier, then he decided that someone pointing out his mistakes would suffice. Sure, he wanted Japan to be free and hated Britannia, but he wanted to do it his way, even if it meant sacrificing a few of his own people to achieve that aim and to dodge the blame that he knew was rightfully his.

Kallen and Ohgi came in and walked to join Tamaki as the woman's crying clearly infuriated him.

"Quit crying, ya hear me?" he shouted as he pointed the gun at her, ready to open fire, "How'd ya like me ta give ya somethin' to cry about bitch?"

"Ohgi," Kallen said as she and Ohgi walked past Tamaki, ignoring his outburst as Kallen's mind seemed to be elsewhere, "Who was that voice we heard?"

"Damn if I know," Ohgi replied as he stopped and sat down, "She doesn't answer when I call , so maybe she thought…"

Kallen's face suddenly washed over with alarm as she spun round to face the doors as they blew open, causing everyone to scream in panic and Kallen took a step back as Ohgi glared at the smoke.

"There, you see?" Tamaki spat, furiously glaring at Ohgi and Kallen, "Instead of following somebody we don't even know, we should've used the poison gas."

Ohgi only groaned as he opened his mouth to protest.

"Damn Nagata to Hell," Tamaki went on, cutting him off, "And damn you Ohgi for getting us into this mess by following some mysterious bitch."

Before anyone could protest, a tank rolled in through the entrance and soldiers came running in from its sides and blocked off every means of escape.

"So this is where you Eleven vermin scurried off to," the commander said simply from atop the tank as he raised his hand. "Prepare to fire."

The soldiers all readied their guns to fire.

Kallen looked on in fear as she clenched her eyes shut.

"No, don't…" she started to say, shaking her head, unable to believe that she was about to die.

"Commence…" the commander started to say as he brought his arm forward.

"Attention all forces!" a familiar voice boomed from the outside, interrupting him, and causing everyone to become confused, "Cease fire at once."

"What?" Ohgi said, unable to comprehend what was going on.

* * *

"Cease fire?" Suzaku said, confused from inside the Lancelot's cockpit as the Lancelot stood amid a group of four downed terrorist Sutherlands.

* * *

"I Clovis, Third Prince of Britannia and Royal Viceroy of Area Eleven hereby command you," the voice of Clovis continued to boom from the Command Centre's PA speakers, "All forces are ordered to cease fire at once. You will also cease destruction of any buildings or property. All casualties, whether Britannian or Elev… er Japanese will be treated equally and without prejudice. In the name of Clovis la Britannia, you're hereby order… cease fire at once. I shall allow no further fighting."

* * *

Everyone in the ghetto were all confused regardless of whether they were Britannians or Japanese and they all had the same thought on their minds. What was going on and why did Prince Clovis order a ceasefire? The Japanese were not complaining though. It had saved their lives, though Tamaki was feeling rather infuriated as he guessed that whoever it was that contacted them must have had something to do with it and he had just had credit stolen from him. Still, he did not complain as it did save his life, no matter how much it infuriated him.

As for the Britannians, they were feeling rather angry, confused and infuriated that they had been ordered to stop. Some of them actually enjoyed massacring innocent civilians just for the fun of it, others felt that it was their job and the Prince had stopped them from carrying it out. However, they were all united in one thing. Someone must have infiltrated the G-1 Base and forced Prince Clovis to get them to stop and though they knew that they could just ignore his orders… the fact that someone was up there with him scared them. They could not risk harm coming to him, knowing that if they ignored the ceasefire order, the Prince would no doubt be killed in retaliation.

* * *

Meanwhile in the G-1 Base, Clovis sighed in absolute relief at finally being able to call off the massacre. Rochelle however, only growled as she glared at the intruders as the lights all when out.

"So you're the traitors that developed consciences and prevented my bloodbath?" she spat with venomous hatred in her voice, glaring at the to silhouettes, "Are you satisfied?"

"Yes, very," the silhouette to right said in a voice that Rochelle believed to be familiar.

"So what shall we do now?" Clovis asked as he sat on his throne and placed his hand up at his cheek while resting his elbow on his throne's armrest, "Sing a few lively ballads or perhaps a nice game of chess?"

"That has a familiar ring," the silhouette replied as she reached up and removed her soldier's helmet before tossing it to the floor, "Don't you recall? I used to watch you and Lelouch play chess together as boys before I took you on myself and though the first time, I fought you to a stalemate; every other time after that, I always won and against Lelouch, Lelouch would always win."

"What?" Rochelle said with gritted teeth glaring at this soldier who dared highlight a triumph of "that disgusting witch's" son, "How'd you know that? Just who are you and how dare you interrupt and put an end to my fun."

"Remember, at the Aries Villa?" the silhouette went on, ignoring Rochelle's comment, "I was there."

"I'd like to know who you are as well," Clovis said as he shot Rochelle a distasteful hate-filled glare at her choice of words.

"You dare ignore me you disrespectful commoner slut!" Rochelle basically screamed in pure fury, causing Clovis to jump, "I'll gladly torture you to death and dismember you alive for your betrayal of our glorious Empire; you and your friend."

The female silhouette just chuckled as she motioned to her companion, who also removed her helmet and seeing the long hair fall down her back, she knew that the second silhouette was a woman as well. However, the first silhouette turned her attention back to Rochelle.

"Dismember me alive?" she spoke in a hate-filled tone of pure venom and fury as Rochelle felt a venomous glare from the girl's eyes, "You'd really do that to me; your own daughter Rochelle li Britannia?"

The silhouette then walked into the light that came from outside and shone through the windows and upon seeing her face, both Clovis and Rochelle's eyes widened in pure shock and disbelief at just who it was that was standing there.

"The youngest daughter of the consort, Rochelle li Britannia and thirty-fourth in line to the Imperial Throne, Euphemia li Britannia at your service," the girl said as she brandished a gun and walked in front of Clovis's throne and dropped into a kneeling position.

"E-Euphie, but-but I thought," Clovis spluttered in disbelief.

"That I was dead," Euphemia continued as she interrupted him and looked up at him and shot her mother a disgusted glare, "You were wrong."

"Euphie…" Rochelle said in disbelief, unable to believe what she was seeing; her own daughter alive and apparently she had been the one who had helped the terrorists, "You're the traitor…?"

"Traitor?" Euphemia said in a dangerously calm tone, turning to shoot her mother a venomous glare, "I suppose you could say that mother. However, I don't approve of your "Operation: Eleven Genocide" plan. It's barbaric and evil. Did you honestly think that I would approve of such a twisted ambition even if I was dead."

She then turned her attention back to Clovis and smiled.

"I have returned Your Highness," she said simply, "And I've come back to change everything."

* * *

**Author's Notes **– Another chapter done. Now Euphemia's reached the G-1 Base and the confrontation between mother and daughter is underway. Just what will happen? What will Rochelle do now? What will Euphemia do? Of course, I'm sure you'll all have guessed Rochelle's fate by now. However, what will Euphemia discover from her and what will Clovis reveal about Marianne's demise? This chapter was mainly based on the Lancelot's introduction as it completely decimated the terrorist Sutherlands. Suzaku will be the most important male character in my fic. This may be a yuri fic, but I don't want to alienate the guys and Suzaku will have his moments with Euphemia, that much I can pretty much guarantee and what happens when he discovers that Euphemia's the one he's been trying to stop? As I said before, Euphemia will have an alias; it just won't be Zero and as for Cornelia, it will definitely test Euphemia's willingness to go through with her plans seeing how she will have to face her sister.


	8. The end of Rochelle

**Code Geass – Euphemia of the Revelation**

**The end of Rochelle**

**Disclaimer **– Code Geass is the property of Sunrise, Bandai Entertainment and Ichiro Okouchi, so I don't own anything afflicted with Code Geass.

* * *

**Warnings **– Strong language, strong violence, Euphemia OOC (obviously), yuri, possible lemons in later chapters (unsure)

* * *

It was sunset over the Shinjuku Ghetto as the crowd of survivors of the day's massacre started making their way out of the warehouse they had been hiding in under the watchful eye of the Britannian soldiers who were not too pleased about the situation seeing as they had been ordered to kill everyone they found alive in the ghetto and now Prince Clovis had ordered a ceasefire. Now, the soldiers were smart enough to know that someone had obviously infiltrated the G-1 Base and had forced the Prince to comply with their demands. However, they also knew that not complying with the order and ignoring it could place the Prince in serious jeopardy as whoever was up there with him may decided to kill him and none of them dared risk it. However, that did not mean that they were happy about letting the "Elevens" go free.

"This is absurd," the voice of one; Jeremiah Gottwald came through a communicator as he contacted another soldier, "Why the hell are we letting the Elevens go? What about the poison gas they've stolen?"

"But it's by order of Prince Clovis," the soldier he was contacting replied simply.

"What about Bartley?" Jeremiah asked, somewhat demandingly, "Get the General's staff on the line."

"They're not at their posts sir," the soldier replied, unable to come up with a plausible excuse as to why his statement was true.

"What?" Jeremiah replied in surprise with a hint of panic in his voice, "You mean Prince Clovis and Lady Rochelle are both alone on the Con?"

* * *

As the Japanese walked out, Kallen, who was among them, now dressed in a dark trench over her combat outfit could not help but wonder just who the woman who helped them was. It was obvious to her that whoever she was had obviously managed to infiltrate the G-1 Base and made Clovis stop the massacre. She could not help but give a questioning glance up at the G-1 Base's windows, which only showed the sunset's reflection as she wondered just what was going on inside it. Who was that mysterious woman and more importantly, why did she decide to help them? At first when that new Knightmare appeared, she thought the woman had abandoned them in order to save her own skin, but apparently, she had figured wrong.

Nearby, Shinichiro Tamaki was seething as he marched out of the warehouse and he shot the Britannian soldiers who ushered them out with nothing but contempt and loathing. Clovis's orders were that Japanese and Britannian casualties were to be treated equally, but Tamaki did not trust that order to say the least; neither was he too happy about how the whole situation had played out. What infuriated him most of all was the fact that it was not him who saved the day. He wanted to be the hero and he felt that he should be the one in the G-1 Base and not some mystery woman and the fact that it was a woman and not a man only infuriated Tamaki even further. Sure he hated being shown up, but that feeling was felt worse when it was a woman that had shown him up. Anyway, he made no attempt to complain or cause trouble as he knew that it could prompt the Britannians into finishing what they started regardless of their Prince's orders. However, he turned to look up at the G-1 Base's windows, glaring at them as if trying to shoot lasers out of his eyes to smash them.

"That should be me up there," he grumbled furiously.

* * *

Meanwhile, up in the G-1 Base's Command Centre, Euphemia rose to her feet after bowing to Clovis and turned to glare at her mother and brought the gun she had in her hand forward threateningly.

"Gee Euphie… I don't know what to say," Rochelle said in a hurriedly panicked tone, "I guess I'm overjoyed that you're alive. They said you died when Japan was brought into the fold. What a blessing to have to back. We should depart for the homeland immediately."

"So Nunnally and I can be used as that man's diplomatic puppets?" Euphemia replied in a disgusted tone as her glare on her mother intensified, causing Rochelle to tremble, "It seems you've forgotten why we were used as tools in the first place."

Clovis's eyes widened in realisation as Rochelle only cringed.

"That's right," Euphemia went on with a dangerously and menacingly calm look in her eyes, "It's because Lady Marianne, Nunnally's mother was killed and I was "too nosy for my own good" as that man put it."

She recalled that day fairly well. In fact, she sometimes still had nightmares in which she relived that horrible day. In truth she really was not supposed to be there, but she had been so eager to get together with Nunnally so they could start on making a cake for Lelouch as a reward for his latest match against Schneizel, which though he lost, he had managed to last a lot longer than before and almost won. She had managed to sneak in through a back way and on her way to find Nunnally; she heard gunfire, which caused her to run to the main lobby of the Aries Villa and was shocked to see Lady Marianne lying near the bottom of the main staircase lying dead with Nunnally underneath her shaking in pure terror. The windows opposite the staircase had been smashed and Lady Marianne had a few bloodstains on her dress where bullets had entered her body. And small spatters of blood were dotted randomly on the stairs and it was apparent that Lady Marianne was dead. Not far, higher on the staircase, two of Marianne's bodyguards also lay dead, the one on the left lying on his front and the one on the right lying on his back, both with small pools of blood underneath them staining the stairs and the blood flowed downwards. However, the most shocking detail was that Lelouch was lying at the bottom of the staircase unmoving in a pool of blood lying on his back with a look of absolute pure terror that would forever adorn his face as it was apparent that he was also dead. However, Nunnally was still alive, though it was apparent that she had been hit in her lower torso.

"Lady Marianne held the title Knight of Honour and was also the Knight of Six during her time in the Knights of the Round, but was a commoner by birth," Euphemia stated, bringing herself back to reality as she remembered the blood flowing down the stairs and into a pool at the bottom, "No doubt the other Imperial Consorts… you among them held her in contempt; especially since she proved herself to be better than most if not all of you. Even though you made it look like the work of terrorists. I'm no fool… you people killed Lady Marianne along with her son and made her daughter a blind cripple."

Clovis could not help but cringe at the increasing anger in Euphemia's voice as she spoke. It was rather uncharacteristic of Euphemia; not the kind and sweet girl he once knew and that terrified him.

"You mean you still support that disgusting witch after all this time?" Rochelle said in a furious tone, forgetting her fear as she glared back at her daughter with a look of revulsion.

"Of course I do," Euphemia admitted; her glare not faltering for even a second, "I've been taking care of her daughter all this time after all."

"Y-y-you mean, Nunnally's still alive?" Clovis said with joy evident in his tone, "How is she?"

"Don't you bring her into this," Euphemia said, turning to glare at Clovis, "After everything she's been through, she doesn't deserve to be brought back to that repulsive man."

"I see," Clovis said with an unsurprising sigh as he shook his head, "You must really hate all of us then. Not that I can blame you. However, I had nothing to do with Lady Marianne's death; I swear to you that I had nothing to do with it."

"Then tell me everything you know," Euphemia said, turning her attention away from her mother, "The truth cannot be hidden from me any longer. By who's hand was she slain?"

She activated her Geass as she asked the question and for a brief moment, Clovis felt a strange sensation enter his right eye before his expression became emotionless and he relaxed.

"My brother, Second Prince Schneizel and Second Princess Cornelia; they can tell you," Clovis said in an emotionless tone, causing Rochelle's eyes to widen in both fright and surprise.

Euphemia's eyes widened in shock at hearing her full-blooded sister's name.

"Wha…? Cornelia… she was at the heart of this?" she said in absolute disbelief, "No way. Cornelia respected and looked up to Lady Marianne. There's no way she could have been in on her assassination. I can believe Schneizel, but Cornelia… that's impossible."

Clovis then closed her mouth and remained unresponsive.

"Do you know anything else?" Euphemia asked with a sigh.

"Yes, after you confronted our father, I overheard someone suggesting that you should be eliminated for daring to look into the truth, but it's strange," Clovis replied, still in the same tone as before.

"Strange, how?" Euphemia demanded, sounding rather impatient.

"The voice that said it sounded as if it came from a child," Clovis replied simply.

A gasp caught Rochelle's attention, diverting her attention away from the scene before her, which downright terrified her. Just what sort of power had Euphemia acquired and how was she using it? It was clear that Clovis was only answering her daughter's questions because she had some sort of hypnotic hold over him. Just what in the world had happened to her daughter?

Anyway, the gasp caught her attention and she turned and noticed the second female in the room who had been forgotten up until now.

"V.V.," a voice that Rochelle recognised said with another gasp, causing her eyes to widen in shock.

"Y-you," she gasped in shock as the girl suddenly walked into the light, revealing her long waist-length light green hair and big yellowish orange eyes.

The girl just turned and shot Rochelle a hateful glare, but remained silent.

"You mean that that Britannian student I ordered the Royal Guard to dispose of was you Euphie?" Rochelle went on, ignoring the fact that the girl had not answered her as she looked back at her daughter.

"Yeah, fancy that?" Euphemia said with a sarcastic laugh, "The one that discovered your project was none other than your own daughter."

She then took her eyes off Clovis who only let out a surprised gasp as he wondered what had just happened.

"I swear it wasn't me," he said in a panicked tone and he pressed his back up against the throne and brought himself forward and brought his hands up in front of himself in a defensive gesture, "I had nothing to do with it."

"I believe you," Euphemia replied with a genuinely reassuring smile; a smile that reminded him of the Euphemia of old; the one that was a kind and caring person.

He just could not believe this. One of the three siblings he believed to be dead was standing before him alive and well and he had been informed that another was also alive and well… or as well as she could possibly be in her current condition. However what terrified him was that the Euphemia standing before him was not the "sweet little Euphie" he remembered. He remembered Euphemia as a kind and caring girl who was always full of smiles no matter what the situation was and her older sister Cornelia constantly doted on her as if trying to spoil her. Euphemia could brighten up any situation with just a smile.

However, that was not the person before him. The person before him was angry and full of hate. Gone were her smiles and what was left in their place was nothing short of pure restrained fury and rage, which he was sure was just itching to be unleashed. The look in Euphemia's eyes said as much and Clovis had to admit to himself that he could not seriously blame her. Euphemia had changed and had become somewhat cruel and he was sure that both he and Rochelle would both meet their end at her hand. He supposed that it was not surprising. Euphemia had every right to hate them. They had abandoned her and Nunnally. Well, Euphemia confronted their father over Lady Marianne and Lelouch's deaths and their father had cruelly blown her off and acting as if Lady Marianne and Lelouch both deserved their fates and he remembered their father even admitting this; claiming that Lady Marianne and Lelouch were both weak because they allowed themselves to be assassinated when it was clear that Lady Marianne had enemies looking to kill her and said the same about Nunnally due to her condition; something that Clovis did not agree with as he did indeed respect Lady Marianne; in fact most of the Imperial Consorts respected her. Sure, they did not like her for her commoner status, but she had their respect.

Anyway, for her defiance, Euphemia had been sent to Japan with Nunnally as political bargaining chips, which Clovis had to wonder was an attempt to have them killed under the pretence of mistakenly getting caught in the crossfire of a battle as their father had already decided to invade Japan before he even considered sending the half-siblings there. Their father was a cruel tyrannical man, Clovis knew. However, he had been too afraid to confront him over Euphemia and Nunnally's… exile. He knew that Cornelia did and was not afraid of losing her claim to the throne. However, their father had threatened to bring Euphemia back and have her killed if she did not stand down and that worked like a charm. Euphemia was the one person that anyone could threaten to bring Cornelia under their control.

Clovis sighed; knowing that it was no doubt the war and the experiences Euphemia had suffered afterwards that had changed her so much. She probably believed that everyone else in the Imperial Family was in on their father's plan and had gone along with it without question and now he figured that trying to reason with her would be impossible.

Euphemia turned her attention to her mother and activated her Geass.

"Now then mother," she said, practically spitting the word, mother in disgusted contempt laced with venom as she spoke, "Did you know about Cornelia's involvement with Lady Marianne's assassination?"

Rochelle took a step back before feeling a strange sensation fire into her right eye before calming down; her face becoming totally dead and emotionless.

"No, I did not," Rochelle replied in a cold dead tone that was devoid of all emotion.

"Were you the one behind the assassination?" Euphemia asked as she continued with her interrogation, "You were the one who hated Lady Marianne the most; the one who felt had the most to gain from her demise."

"You're right, but I was not the one behind Marianne's assassination," Rochelle replied in the same tone as before.

Euphemia groaned in frustration. Both Clovis and her mother were dead ends and from what she had learned, her elder sister, Cornelia knew something. It was something she just could not believe. Cornelia was among those who looked up to Lady Marianne and idolised her. Heck, Cornelia had even taken up Knightmare Frame piloting because of Lady Marianne. The idea that she was in on her assassination was just something she just could not get her head round and apparently, their mother had no idea what her involvement was. She could easily believe Schneizel as a suspect as Schneizel mainly kept himself to himself and Euphemia could not help but feel slightly intimidated by his mere presence whenever they were in the same room together. She supposed it was his position of power plus the fact that he was the best strategist in the Empire. Euphemia knew that she could not beat Schneizel at strategy and neither could she beat Cornelia. Maybe it was that knowledge that made her apprehensive. The two people who possibly knew about Lady Marianne's assassination were the two people that she had not been able to beat at chess, which was going to prove problematic in future.

Sighing, she released her mother from her Geass and groaned in frustrated dissatisfaction.

"W-w-what?" Rochelle stuttered before glaring at her daughter, "Just what the hell was that just now Euphie?"

"You don't know anything about Lady Marianne's assassination and yet you were the one who despised her the most; the only one who despised her enough to want to kill her," Euphemia said as she returned her mother's glare, "How does it feel being beaten to the punch?"

Rochelle just laughed with a scoff.

"Me having something to do with that disgusting witch's death… how absurd," she scoffed with a humourless laugh, "I certainly wouldn't hire hitmen to do the deed; I'd have done the deed myself and I suppose I have mixed feelings about "being beaten to the punch" as you say. I'm glad that I was finally rid of that disgusting blight on my life and yet, what infuriates me the most about it was that I was not the one to do it. She was mines to kill. If I met the assassins, I'd kill them all for robbing me of what should have been mine."

Euphemia just raised an eyebrow, not that all surprised at her mother's rant as she heard the anger in her voice raise as she spoke. Rochelle always despised Lady Marianne right from the word go and all because Lady Marianne was better than she was and Rochelle came to believe that Lady Marianne was rubbing it in her face just by being alive. It was not surprising that Rochelle had wanted to be the one who killed Lady Marianne and the fact that someone had beaten her to it was no doubt something she just could not stomach.

"I will tell you one thing though," Rochelle continued to rant, though her tone had calmed right down, "After the funeral, mostly everyone associated with that disgusting witch started dying mysteriously. The baker's she used to visit before she married into the Royal Family… a faulty oven caused a fire that claimed the lives of the baker and his entire family. Her late father died in his sleep, though evidence suggested that he was poisoned."

"What the…?" Euphemia said with a surprised gasp, "No way, you're pulling my leg. Those have got to be coincidences."

"I kid you not Euphie," Rochelle replied in a resolute tone, "Mostly everyone who knew that disgusting witch is now dead; even business associates whose only interactions with her were strictly business related all died either being the victims of accidents or succumbing to natural causes."

"She's right," Clovis spoke up, confirming Rochelle's claim, "I didn't think about it much at the time, but waves of deaths that were attributed to accidents or natural causes started to occur after Lady Marianne's funeral and now that I think about it, all those who had died were associated with Lady Marianne in one way or another; even those who had only met her once were among those who died."

Euphemia tensed as her hold on her gun tightened. This was unreal. What was going on? Did Lady Marianne stumble onto something she was not meant to know about and was found out and afterwards the people who ordered her assassination became paranoid over who she might have told? That seemed too farfetched to be true, but what other explanation could there be? She remembered hearing her father mention the Ragnarok Connection in that vision she saw when she first received her Geass. Could Lady Marianne have stumbled onto something relating to that? Was her father really so paranoid over it escaping into the public domain that he would be willing to silence innocents just because they happened to know Lady Marianne and feared that she may have told them? She shook her head as she felt it starting to throb.

"Euphemia," the green-haired girl said with a hint of concern on her face.

"I'm fine C.C.," Euphemia said as she regained her composure, "Don't worry about me. I'll be just fine. This is just a lot to take in, that's all."

C.C. just nodded, her face going back to its usual neutral expression.

"E-e-e-excuse me Euphie, b-b-but who is this?" Clovis stuttered, though he already guessed that this girl was no doubt Rochelle's human guinea-pig.

"So you noticed her, did you?" Euphemia said in a somewhat uncaring tone, "She doesn't want to tell me her real name, though she prefers to be called C.C. and she's the project you so happen to be funding dear brother."

"I figured as much," Clovis said with a defeated sigh as he shook his head.

Rochelle then glared at her daughter.

"You mean it was you with her; you were the one who only got into this situation through your own bad luck?" she said feeling rather infuriated that her own daughter was the one who had ruined everything for her, "I bet it was you who organised the terrorist groups, wasn't it?"

"Guilty as charged," Euphemia confirmed as she returned her mother's glare even more intensely, "I already said so. I know all about your Operation: Eleven Genocide plan and how you allowed the terrorists to steal the capsule containing C.C. looking for an excuse to kill off as many Japanese as possible and hoping that the rest would raise up in open rebellion and then you'd wipe every single one of them out."

"For you!" Rochelle shouted in her defence, "I thought you were dead. They had to pay for it."

"Did you really think I would have approved of such barbaric actions?" Euphemia shot back, her glare intensifying even more, "What you're planning is genocide. I never condoned violence before and even though that's changed. I would not bring myself to such a level as to wipe out an entire race of people all for the sake of revenge. Even if I had died, you'd seriously kill an entire race just because one individual of that race put a bullet in me? Did it ever occur to you that I could have been killed by a Britannian? Maybe I could have been hit by a stray bullet fired from a gun held by a Britannian soldier or inside a building that the Britannians destroyed; did those thoughts ever cross your mind?"

Rochelle was truly at a loss for words. She clearly had not considered that.

"And you ordered the Royal Guard to kill me," Euphemia went on, "What would you have done had they been successful and they brought my body before you and another thing… do you really believe that your Operation: Eleven Genocide plot is a matter of vengeance or are you just using me as an excuse to hide your real reasons for you insane campaign?"

She then paused and let out a sigh before turning back to face Clovis.

"Did you know about this Clovis?" she asked with a serious look on her face that caused Clovis to shiver as he looked into her fury-filled eyes.

"W-w-well I-I-I g-g-g-guessed as m-much as t-t-t-time went on," Clovis stuttered in admission, "I w-w-wanted to stop her b-bit I was t-to s-s-s-s-scared of her to act."

"And did you know that she had your Royal Guard under her payroll?" Euphemia went on with a hint of calmness in her furious voice.

"Huh, you-you mean that the Royal Guard knew about this?" Clovis said in a loud voice with his eyes wide and genuine surprise clearly written all over his face.

"Yep, that General was kind enough to give me the details before I killed him and eight or nine of his subordinates," Euphemia replied with a somewhat sadistic smirk on her face, though inwardly, she still felt sick to her stomach whenever she thought about that, "Though technically they committed suicide. However, I used that power I used to interrogate you over Lady Marianne's assassination to order them to do it. I don't know what it is exactly. All I know as that it's called Geass and some kind of supernatural power that allows me to get people to follow my orders."

Rochelle then turned to glare at C.C..

"You…" she growled dangerously at the immortal girl giving her a venomous glare, "That was your doing wasn't it?"

"Of course," C.C. admitted in a rather neutral and uncaring tone, "The Royal Goon Squad were going to kill her on your orders. I had to do something to save her. Can you image that… you having ordered the demise of your own daughter without even realising it? Only now, she's overcome the odds and now she's here to kill you for your insane campaign of genocide as well as the fact that you abandoned her with her half-sister."

"She stood up for that disgusting witch," Rochelle stated in her defence, "I'll admit that I was somewhat reluctant to send her off, but Charles convinced me that it was for the best. She needed to be taught a lesson and as for that disgusting little blind cripple… it's a pity she's still alive. In her current condition, I'm sure she'd see death as her liberation. Britannia has no room for weaklings like her. Her very existence is a mistake that should be rectified . She has commoner blood flowing through her veins. She's a contamination of the Royal Bloodline."

Euphemia listened to her mother's rant feeling nothing but disgusted fury. She could not believe that this woman… no, demon was her biological mother. She seemed to have this notion in her head that she was better than everyone else; even her fellow wives and nobility and she absolutely despised those who proved her wrong. However, insulting Nunnally just because of who her mother was did not sit well with Euphemia. It was something she could not stand. Nunnally was a kind and caring person and rather innocent. Despite her condition, she did not look to death for salvation. Nunnally took her condition in stride and got on as best she could. Euphemia knew that Nunnally was upset that there were certain things that she could not do by herself and it upset her to no end. However, she did not dwell on it and immerse herself in her misery. Instead she allowed people to help her and expressed her gratitude with a sweet and kind smile. Nunnally was someone who did not let her condition rule her life and got on with things to the best of her ability and accepted help whenever offered or whenever she needed it.

"You despicable bitch," Euphemia said to her mother in an outraged tone, "How dare you insult Nunnally like that; how dare you. You're wrong about her you know. She doesn't see death as her way out. You fail to realise that handicaps and obstacles can be overcome. Nunnally doesn't sit around crying all day while I slave away fulfilling her every whim. She gets on with her life and does whatever she can as best she can and I provide her help whenever she needs it; me and our friends at Ashford Academy."

"Ashford," Rochelle growled, glaring at her daughter with nothing but contempt and disgust, "You mean you hid out with those rejects and that disgusting witch's friends all this time?"

"Yep," Euphemia replied with a smirk, "And get this; I took up the alias, Euphemia Lamperouge and you know that Lamperouge was Lady Marianne's family name before she married that disgusting man."

At hearing this, Rochelle finally snapped, unable to take it in anymore. The daughter she had been trying to avenge for so long had been alive all this time and hiding out with her arch nemesis's friends and had taken up that woman's birth family name; not to mention it was apparent that her daughter despised and loathed her for her actions; actions that she had done for her benefit. It was more than Rochelle could stand.

"YOU DISRESPECTFUL UNGRATEFUL LITTLE SLUT!" she screamed at the top of her voice, causing Clovis to jump in fright.

"Save it!" Euphemia shot back angrily with venom dripping from her voice, "I know what you're going to say and quite frankly, I could care less if you considered me your daughter. We'll always be mother and daughter; that's an undeniable fact and one that absolutely disgusts me to no end. However, our relationship with one another in just a biological one; nothing more. We're only mother and daughter by blood; that's it, just as that man and I are father and daughter by blood."

"You shall show our Emperor the proper respect," Rochelle stated in a dangerously low voice, "He is your father and you would not even be alive if it wasn't for us."

"True," Euphemia said with a deadly frightening smirk on her face, "However, I was brought into this world to be nothing more than that man's puppet and I will never acknowledge him as my father; never! Why should I show respect to someone who'd sooner sacrifice me to save his own neck than find a way to save us all? That man is nothing more than an evil tyrant who can't deal with reality , so he goes around trying to reshape it to his own image and he also uses his own children as bargaining chips and human shields to further his own ambitions. Well no more. I'm going to bring him and his corrupt empire down and I'll start by removing you from this world."

She then followed up her statement by walking over to her mother and pointing the gun she had in her hand at her head.

"You actually intend to kill me?" Rochelle stated with a hint of fear in her voice as she glared at her daughter, "After everything I did for you?"

"If you're referring to the genocide of the Japanese people, then yeah, I'll gladly take your life Rochelle li Britannia," Euphemia said with a smirk.

"You…" Rochelle started to say as she was going to go off into another rant, but Euphemia shoved the front of her gun into her mouth, cutting her off.

"I like Japan," she said with a sigh, "I guess you could say my time here had quite the effect on me, I even learned some of the Japanese language."

Rochelle tried to back away from Euphemia knowing that she had every intention of killing her, but Euphemia stepped forward, preventing the gun from leaving her mouth and pointed it upwards at a diagonal angle, ensuring that the bullet would go through the brain.

"Sayonara teme," Euphemia stated as an emotionless look washed over her face and Rochelle's eyes widened in horror as she looked into her daughter's eyes.

However, before she could react further, Euphemia squeezed her finger down on the trigger without any hesitation and a soft bang could be heard throughout the room as Rochelle's brains splattered out behind her from her head as Euphemia removed the gun from her mouth and stared at her mother's corpse with a look of indifference as it fell backwards. Euphemia stared down at the corpse for a moment before eying the red ruby hexagon at the front of her necklace and then ripped it from the neck.

"Something tells me that I may need this in future," she said in a somewhat dead tone, "I can't say that I'm happy about this. No matter what she was, she was my mother and by murdering her, it's matricide and no doubt if I'm discovered, I'll be arrested and executed for treason."

That much was true. For a Britannian to murder a member of the Imperial Family whether it be a prince or princess or an imperial consort; it was considered treason of the highest level and the fact that Euphemia herself was a member of the same family and had murdered her own mother… it would definitely have serious repercussions back home if it was discovered that it was indeed her that had done the deed. However, members of the Imperial Family murdering one another was nothing new. Many of Britannia's Emperors and Empresses had practically murdered their way to the throne, killing all those who were higher than them just so that the throne went to them by default. Incidents like that were covered up from the public. However, unlike them, Euphemia had no intentions of ascending the throne. Her ambitions lay in tearing down Britannia's corruption and bringing down that man; Charles zi Britannia and avenging Lady Marianne and Lelouch's deaths as well as give Japan its independence back as she had become rather attached to the country before the invasion.

"So I guess I'm next," a voice came, bringing Euphemia back to reality as she turned and saw Clovis still sitting in his throne; his face as white as a ghost with a horrified look in his eyes as he stared at Rochelle's dead body.

"That depends," Euphemia replied as she turned to face Clovis and fired a shot from her gun into the left side of his abdomen, "Are you going to rant us out?"

She then followed up her question with another three shots; one to his right shoulder, another to his right thigh and the last to his left shin.

"Heavens no," Clovis replied, shaking his head as he looked Euphemia straight in the eye, letting her know that he was speaking the truth, "I never really liked Rochelle to begin with. If I had been stronger, I'd have killed her ages ago."

Euphemia nodded with a smile as she pocketed her mother's necklace.

"You know, a slip of the tongue may ruin your secret," C.C. spoke up, "He may still reveal your identity by accident."

Euphemia nodded and for a moment Clovis thought that she was going to kill him; not that he was expecting her to spare him. After all, he was just as guilty for the massacre as Rochelle was; guilty for ordering it and allowing it to continue in the first place.

"Just get it over with Euphie," he said with a defeated sigh, "I'm just as guilty as her anyway. I was the one who authorised it in the first place and I allowed it to continue when I could have stopped it. My reign as Viceroy is over. Rochelle's ruined any chance I could've had at getting in the Japanese people's good favours. I was too scared to stop her. She could ruin me you know. However, it's no justification for it and I won't bother wasting my breath pleading for my life."

Euphemia listened rather intently and slowly absorbed the information Clovis was telling her. She then raised her gun and Clovis shut his eyes, preparing for his end. Euphemia fired, but instead of a headshot or a shot to the heart or some other vital organ, Clovis felt the bullet penetrate the area ere his thigh bone connected with his hip on his right side causing his eyes to shoot open in a mixture of surprise and pain.

"I have no intentions of killing you brother," Euphemia stated simply, "I'll admit I was at first, but after hearing that my demonic mother was the true mastermind behind the massacre and how she was manipulating you and setting you up to take the fall, I switched my target. I understand that you did not want this and despite your apparent role in it, I've decided to give you another chance. However, I trust you not to tell anyone about me or Nunnally or even C.C. for that matter."

"Y-yes, I understand," Clovis said with an astonished look on his face, unsure whether or not Euphemia was really letting him go.

"On guard to the end, eh?" Euphemia said as if reading his mind, "I like that. However, what I said was the truth. I expect you to retire as Viceroy however."

"Of course, as I already said, Rochelle's ruined it for me," Clovis said with a nod, "But why spare me? I don't want to die, I'll admit, but I'm just as guilty as Rochelle and nothing excuses that. I remember hearing someone in a TV programme state that all it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to sit back and do nothing, which is exactly what I did and like Miss C.C. said, I may end up accidentally revealing that you're alive through a slip of the tongue."

Euphemia nodded in agreement.

"True, but I'm willing to risk it," she replied simply, "And to answer your other question, I can see that all that was holding you back from carrying out your good intentions was your fear or maybe it's because something C.C. said when that state-of-the-art Knightmare entered the fray and the pilot gave up chasing me to rescue someone. She told me that sometimes killers spare someone every now and again in order to ease their conscience and cope with the fact they've killed countless others. Maybe that's why I'm sparing you. I've already killed some of your Royal Guard and my mother. I don't like the idea of killing anyone else right now. However, I can't leave you unscathed. With mother dead; if you were discovered unhurt, the media might use that to ruin you even further… like suggest that you were in on it with the terrorists or you killed her yourself… things like that. There are people within the media I know that don't care about the truth and just want to spin a great story to sell newspapers. If anyone asks, just say that you escaped death by playing possum."

Clovis nodded as he winced in pain. He was bleeding from the bullet wounds in his body, though none of them had damaged anything vital, though the wound in his left side had narrowly missed his intestines and he was sure that Euphemia's last shot had severed the joint in his hip and thigh bone.

"You know, your aim is better than your Knightmare piloting skills," C.C. commented out of the blue, "The next Marianne the Flash, you are not."

"Don't rub it in," Euphemia growled as she glared at the immortal green-haired girl, "It was my first time in a Knightmare Frame, plus having you squashed up against me didn't help matters."

C.C. just gave an uncaring shrug.

"But that pilot in that new Knightmare was really something," she went on, "He was able to manoeuvre it in such a way that it moved more like a person than an actually Knightmare Frame."

Euphemia groaned as she remembered it. Just who was that pilot? To be able to pull moves like that off without causing damage to the Knightmare was nothing short of incredible, though she was sure that for a Knightmare like that, they would not have just selected just any ordinary pilot. Whoever it was had to be really good. Lady Marianne would obviously be able to pilot it as if it were nothing but child's play, but she was dead and this pilot was obviously on the way to coming up to her level. She had to admit that she had been rather lucky that he had decided to go and rescue that woman, who had been caught up in the crossfire of her trying to slow the new Knightmare down. She had been lucky because it had given her time to escape. By the time he got back to resuming the chase, she had already been long gone.

"Um, excuse me Euphie, but can I ask about Lady Marianne's assassination?" Clovis asked with a bit of fear in his voice.

"What of it?" Euphemia asked simply.

"You're not convinced that it was terrorists, are you?" he said curiously, "Why is that?"

"The Aries Villa is not a place that terrorists could break into and leave after doing what they came to do," Euphemia replied simply.

Clovis had to admit that that was true. He just could not see how terrorists could have breached the villa's impenetrable security, killed Lady Marianne and got away. The culprits were never caught, having seemingly vanished off the face of the Earth and Cornelia had put a lot of time and effort into investigations that all proved pointless in the end. It was as if it had never happened in the first place and then there was the mystery of mostly all of Lady Marianne's acquaintances dying in accidents or succumbing to natural causes.

"Even if it was terrorists, the fact remains that they could not have infiltrated the villa alone," Euphemia went on, bringing Clovis out of his thoughts, "Regardless of who it was that ultimately killed Lady Marianne and Lelouch; the fact remains that it was an inside job. If it was terrorists, then they had help from the inside and if not… well I now believe that she may have stumbled onto something that she was not supposed to know about and whoever it was behind it discovered that she knew too much."

"An inside job…?" Clovis said in shock as his eyes widened in disbelief, "Euphie, you can't be serious, can you?"

"I'm deadly serious," Euphemia stated, shooting Clovis a deadly serious look, "That man had both Nunnally and I sent away because I confronted him about it."

"Y-y-you don't seriously think that father's involved, do you?" Clovis asked in disbelief, though the more he thought about it, the more likely that notion seemed to become reality.

Their father had turned a blind eye to Lady Marianne's death, waving it off like it was nothing. He did not even try to look as if he was grieving even at her funeral. In his speech, he not once mentioned Lady Marianne herself and instead used his speech to assert himself and his beliefs. It was absolutely upsetting to say the least. He was supposed to talk about Lady Marianne and instead, he just brushed her off in favour of voicing his own ambitions.

"Yes I do," Euphemia replied with a serious look, "Lady Marianne must've stumbled onto something that he didn't want made public ad he had someone shut her up. As for her acquaintances all dying. I believe that that man or whoever it was feared that she may have told someone and became fearful that they would carry on where she left off. I think that man may have something to do with something known as the Ragnarok Connection."

"Ragnarok Connection?" Clovis asked curiously.

"A vision I had during the induction stage of receiving my Geass power," Euphemia said with a sigh, "I saw that man in some kind of temple mentioning the Ragnarok Connection. If Lady Marianne was killed over discovering anything, I'm sure that that was it and apparently, C.C. here knows about the Ragnarok Connection."

"I don't know who killed Lady Marianne," C.C. commented, feeling that Euphemia was accusing her of withholding information, which was true, but not the information that Euphemia was thinking, "I'll admit that I knew Lady Marianne, but I had nothing to do with her assassination. I wasn't even anywhere near the Aries Villa at the time."

"I never said you were," Euphemia shot back, though her remark did make her a tad-bit suspicious, "But once we get out of here, you're gonna talk."

She studied C.C. carefully, looking her over as if searching for signs of deception. She found no signs that C.C. was lying to her, but then again, from what she had seen of the immortal girl so far, she found it hard to read her. It was impossible to tell if she was lying or not. She hid her emotions well; even in her eyes. They mostly had a somewhat dead emotionless and neutral look in them, which coupled with her calm and neutral tone made it hard for Euphemia to determine her motives and loyalties. It was apparent to her that C.C. was keeping stuff from her and no doubt had no intentions of divulging what she knew. However, Euphemia was determined to get every ounce of information she could out of the immortal girl and if she had to use force, then so be it.

"I don't think you should tell me anything else," Clovis said in a somewhat panicked tone, "The less I know, the better. Now I think this'll be a good time for you two to get out of here."

Euphemia nodded and turned to C.C.

"Well then C.C., I think we've overstayed our welcome here," she said giving her a stare and a tone that seemed to say "Follow me or else".

"Of course, those soldiers you sent away could be back at any moment and we wouldn't want to be caught here now, do we?" C.C. stated in agreement.

"Don't worry Euphie, I won't tell anyone about you or Miss C.C.," Clovis said as he gave his half-sister a look of worrying concern, "Take care Euphie."

"You to Clovis," Euphemia replied before she and C.C. turned and walked out the door.

"Be careful Euphie," Clovis thought once he was sure that he was alone, "If what you're suggesting turns out to be true about Lady Marianne's death then you could be in very serious danger if whoever ordered it gets wind of your investigation."

The more he thought about it, the more he became convinced of how true it could possibly be. The fact that Lady Marianne was assassinated in broad daylight and the assassins managing to make their getaway without being caught in an area where it was considered impossible for terrorists to infiltrate much less get away unseen by anyone never to be seen again sounded completely absurd. Like Euphemia had told him, the only way that could have possibly happened was that the terrorists had inside help and he knew that Lady Marianne had a lot of enemies within the Royal Court who opposed her because of her commoner status. However, he could not help but wonder if perhaps their father was in on the assassination. This Ragnarok Connection that Euphemia mentioned seemed a plausible motive. He certainly had not heard his father mention anything about it. Was it possible that Lady Marianne discovered something about it and the Emperor had her silenced to prevent the information from making it out into the public domain? The idea that the Emperor had one of his consorts murdered because she knew too much of something she was not supposed to know about seemed rather outrageous at first, but thinking it over given the Emperor's attitude after the assassination as well as his treatment of Euphemia for confronting him over the issue made it seem like a high possibility; though without any solid evidence, it was just speculation no matter how probable it seemed.

* * *

Meanwhile, Euphemia and C.C. had finally managed to make it out of the Shinjuku Ghetto after Euphemia hotwired a rather old and battered car lying in the middle of an old street. However, the ride back to Ashford Academy was a silent one. C.C. dared not speak to Euphemia as it was clear that she was lost in thought, obviously trying to get her head round what she had discovered from both Clovis and Rochelle and she had to admit that she was surprised as well to hear that mostly all of Lady Marianne's acquaintances were all now dead.

"V.V.," she thought, shaking her head, "Do you really hate Marianne that much? Do you really hate her so much that you'd kill everyone who knew her just to eradicate her memory from existence? Are you really that determined to be rid of her? What of Euphemia? She wasn't supposed to be there that day? Will you eliminate her as well?"

Euphemia sighed as she drove the car along the road, ignoring the shocked and confused stares the car was getting due to its condition from passers-by. She just could not believe that her sister, Cornelia would betray Lady Marianne. It sounded preposterous and now there was the added knowledge that all of Lady Marianne's acquaintances; mostly all of them from her closest family members to those who had only met her once before had all died and Clovis's revelation that he overheard someone suggesting that she should be eliminated for confronting that man over it. There was definitely a cover-up of some kind; that much she did know. However, the idea that it was because of some wide conspiracy was something she had not even considered. Lelouch had obviously been an innocent who had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, the idea that her sister was a part of this conspiracy and that she had a hand in the murder of her well-respected idol was just something Euphemia found that she could not come to terms with.

"Cornelia, did you really betray Lady Marianne?" she thought, shaking her head, "Are you in on this Ragnarok Connection or whatever conspiracy cost Lady Marianne and Lelouch their lives? I just can't believe that you'd betray your idol like that. I've gotta know."

She then turned to look at C.C. who visibly trembled under her gaze.

"Keep your eyes on the road," she warned with a serious look in her eyes.

Euphemia nodded and turned her attention back to the road in front of her, knowing that it was not the time to argue, though she was more convinced that C.C. was trying to avoid divulging what she knew. Nevertheless, she knew that for now she could not waste time trying to pry the answers from her. It was already getting late and she was tired, plus she was sure that Nunnally would be wondering where she was and was worrying about her.

"Hey Nunnally, sorry I'm late, but I was caught up in a situation where I had to fight for my life against the Britannians and I killed my own mother," she mused sarcastically to herself, grimacing as she remembered killing her mother; feeling rather sick with herself as she recalled every detail.

She felt rather nauseated and believed that she was going to vomit as she recalled the blood and brains splattering out from the back of Rochelle's head. It was not something she was altogether proud of; after all, that woman was her mother no matter how much she wanted it not to be true and along with the deaths of the Royal Guardsmen meant that in total, she had killed between nine and twelve people, though she could not be certain just how many she had killed or how many more had died because of her. She did know one thing though. Her life would never be the same after this. She had been given an extraordinary supernatural power and she had used it to kill, steal and interrogate and she had taken the life of her own mother. There was no turning back for her, she knew. She was committed. She would use this power to help her in her quest to bring down Britannia and that man. However, she could not help but feel a sudden uneasiness starting to build in the pit of her stomach over the deaths that she had caused.

* * *

**Author's Notes **– Another chapter finally done. Sorry for the wait. I'm sure that this was a chapter that many of you had been waiting for; the demise of Rochelle. By the way, the word "teme" is a rather offensive Japanese word that could mean "bastard" or a really offensive way of saying "you" i.e. "Damn you" or "You bastard" etc. This is also the first chapter aside from the prelude that's mostly original and does not follow canon aside from the start. So what now for Euphemia? Will she find out about the Ragnarok Connection? Will C.C. be willing to tell her? Will Euphemia find out about V.V.? Probably not until much later on. Anyway, once again, I apologise for the wait. The computer ran into problems that took days to fix and the thing is, I'm still unsure how I managed to fix them. It didn't crash or anything; just made some application inaccessible and caused warning and error messages to pop up. However, I discovered that it was possibly because the computer's firewall was deactivated. So I activated it and we'll see what happens in future.


	9. An unexpected surpise

**Code Geass – Euphemia of the Revelation**

**An unexpected Surprised**

**Disclaimer **– Code Geass is the property of Sunrise, Bandai Entertainment and Ichiro Okouchi, so I don't own anything afflicted with Code Geass.

* * *

**Warnings **– Strong language, strong violence, Euphemia OOC (obviously), yuri, possible lemons in later chapters (unsure)

* * *

In a dark room within the Imperial Palace of Pendragon a sinister figure was pondering over events that he knew had occurred in "Area Eleven", which had been known as Japan until seven years ago when Britannia invaded, looking to gain control of Japan's supply of Sakuradite. At first glance the figure seemed harmless with a child's body that looked no older than ten with long bleach-blonde hair that was so long that the last few inches trailed along the floor behind him and he also had big purple eyes and wore a white aristocratic suit. All in all, the person had a look of pure innocence about him and could easily flash a seemingly sweet smile that would soften even the strictest of people.

However they said that one should not judge a book by its cover and that looks can be deceiving and with this person, those sayings were well founded as despite his sweet smiles… it only serviced to hide his true dark and sinister nature for he was no child. He was an adult forever trapped in the body of an ageless child and his eyes held a cunningly dangerous look within them. This individual was very dangerous and the fact that he hid his dangerous nature behind his childish façade made him altogether terrifying to those who knew his true colours.

"Ah, so C.C., you've found her at last eh?" he mused to himself with an evil smirk, "Somehow I knew she and Marianne's younger child were still alive. It's hard to imagine that Euphemia wouldn't have faked their deaths to escape Charles's radar."

The door to the room opened and in stepped two figures; a rather tall woman with light blonde hair that went down to halfway between her shoulders and the bottom of her head and bright blue sparkling eyes. The other figure was shrouded in shadow, though his short brown hair was visible and even in the shadows, it was apparent that he looked no older than a teenager in his mid-to-late teens.

"You sent for us?" the woman asked in an emotionless professional like tone.

The child like figure turned around and smirked.

"Yes, I did," he replied in a sinisterly calm tone as he walked towards the two figures, "After seven years of waiting, Euphemia li Britannia and Nunnally vi Britannia have both been located in Area Eleven alive. Now the plan can move forward once again."

"I see," the woman said with a nod, "What shall we do now?"

"For the moment, nothing," the child like figure replied, "Though I want you to take you and your people to observe Euphemia for now… just observe her, not interfere with her and you will report her activities back to me. You'll find her at Ashford Academy in the Tokyo Settlement under the alias Euphemia Lamperouge."

"Understood sir," the woman said with a nod in the same professional tone as before, "But may I ask why?"

The child like figure smiled contently as he closed his eyes for a brief moment.

"I'm merely interested in what she's planning on doing for the time being," the child like figure replied, "However, the situation may change in future. C.C. gone and given dear Euphemia a Geass and Euphemia's gone on and killed her own mother."

"I see," the woman said, waving it off, "I can't say I liked Rochelle that much to begin with… always so absorbed and in love with herself. Euphie's actually gone and done a lot of us Imperial Consorts a favour. By the way, what of Miss Alstreim? That woman's consciousness still lives on within her."

"Leave her be," the child like figure replied, shaking his head, "That woman's no longer a hindrance so long as she hides in that girl's mind. For the moment, just concentrate on Euphemia and gathering as much information as you can. If she becomes too much of a threat, eliminate her and if the worst comes to the worst, I'll deal with her personally."

"Understood Master V.V.," the woman said as she gave a bow along with the boy beside her, who had remained silent all this time and then suddenly, both their right eyes lit up with a light red energy that took the shape of the Geass insignia, "Should Euphemia challenge us, she'll be in for a rather nasty surprise."

V.V. smirked.

"Excellent," he mused to himself, "I look forward to see how you fair Euphemia. You'll no doubt investigate Marianne's assassination. Well let's see if you can hunt me down."

* * *

"Wake up Euphemia," the voice of Milly Ashford came as Euphemia felt a rolled up newspaper assault her head, "I know you were sleeping, your hand stopped moving."

Milly continued to beat Euphemia's head even as she spoke.

"Well, you don't have to beat me up over it, do you?" Euphemia replied simply in a tired voice.

"Ah, serves you right for ditchin' me like that," Rivalz said as he sat Indian style and pointed his pencil at Euphemia with some papers in his other hand.

"That's right, what was up with you yesterday?" Shirley asked from her seat beside Euphemia to her left as she gave Euphemia a suspicious glance; still upset about how Euphemia had hung up on her.

"Oh, well… I really don't want to talk about it," Euphemia said as she struggled to suppress a yawn.

It was the day after the horrible events in the Shinjuku Ghetto; the day after Euphemia had taken the life of her own mother and in truth, she felt rather ill. She had been lost in thought before Milly started beating her with the newspaper. She had arrived home rather late and in truth, she had been too tired to interrogate C.C., who was currently held up in her room. However, despite her tiredness, Euphemia found that she could not get over to sleep as the deaths she had caused plagued her mind; especially her mother's.

It was not something she was proud of. That demonic witch had been her mother if nothing else and yet, Euphemia had felt obligated to take her life because of her insane campaign of genocide. The massacre at Shinjuku absolutely sickened her; the deaths of the Royal Guardsmen sickened her; the deaths of the Knightmare pilots that were victims of the terrorists' retaliation sickened her and most of all; the death of her mother, which she had seen to personally, sickened her. How she had managed to last this long without throwing up was a mystery to her despite the overwhelming feeling of nausea that tormented her stomach since she arrived back at the academy.

She did not think that she had slept at all last night and now she was here in the student council meeting room with Shirley, Milly, Rivalz and Nina who was sitting at a separate table to the left of the window working away writing up notes and carrying out calculations. However, Euphemia wondered if perhaps she should have called in sick today. She was the council's vice-president, but with Milly, who was the council's president here, she knew that her vice-president status was not required. She did not feel that good and the images of her mother's dead body continued to plague her mind.

At the time, she did not think much of it as she had been ruled by her rage over her mother's "Operation: Eleven Genocide" plan and kept a cold emotionless neutral expression as she carried out the deed, but afterwards when she and C.C. escaped from the G-1 Base, her conscience started to catch up with her and it left her feeling rather dejected and disgusted with herself.

Luckily for her, the car she had escaped in was long gone. After she had reached the academy, she had been fortunate enough to spot a passer-by, whom she used her Geass on and made him drive off in it with the instructions to leave it in the nearest scrap yard to be destroyed or recycled. No doubt, the car would disappear and no one would be able to trace her back to the events that occurred in the Shinjuku Ghetto.

"Ah come on Euphie, you can tell us," Rivalz said in a playful tone.

"I said I don't want to talk about it!" Euphemia snapped furiously, causing everyone to jump.

"Gee, what's with you?" Rivalz said after overcoming his shock, "Did your winning streak come to an end or something?"

"Y-y-yeah," Euphemia lied, deciding to go with it as they all believed that she had been out gambling, even after she had "ditched" Rivalz, "Guess nothing lasts forever and I just don't take losing all that well."

Well, that was not a complete lie. She remembered how infuriated she had been when that new Knightmare had appeared and started ruining her plans. It was something she had not considered and having C.C. rub it in when she had given her ample warning before hand that the enemy may have a trump card only served to infuriate her even more. It was true, she could not handle defeat, especially when victory was so close and when winning meant dealing a blow to Britannia.

"That's enough you guys," Milly said, gaining everyone's attention as she beat the newspaper in her hand down on her free hand, "Let's not get sidetracked here. If we don't come up with a fix for the club activities budget, there won't be money left for everything at all."

"And if it comes to that point…" Nina said, putting in her two cents.

"The equestrian club'll be pissed," Rivalz went on for her, with his hands raised and elbows bent, "We don't want 'em comin' in here on horseback."

"Rivalz, can't you be a more serious student council member?" Milly said, looking at Rivalz in disapproval even as a horse was heard from outside and a member of the equestrian club robe by and looked in the window as if to emphasise Rivalz's statement before riding off.

"You know it would have been nice of you if you would have reminded us about this mess a day ago," Shirley spoke up.

"I would have to say a day later," Rivalz said as he leaned towards Shirley, "Then we would've given up."

"Great idea, we can still do that," Euphemia said, turning to face Rivalz and Shirley.

"GUUUUUUUUUTSSSSSSSSS!" Milly's loud voice came as she had her fists clenched in front of her, causing everyone to flinch.

This was a regular occurrence whenever the student council was in crisis. Milly would always have one of these "Guts" spells as she believed that it could help get the crisis resolved. In Euphemia's mind, it was just a load of garbage, but it had somehow always worked in the past.

"Are you tryin' that Guts spell again?" Rivalz asked after recovering from the shock of Milly's sudden outburst.

"Yep," Milly said with a smile as she placed her left hand on the table and pointed at the three student council members with her right, "I want you people to start putting your all into this."

"I really don't think that your magic's gonna do a whole lot," Euphemia said with a blank look on her face as she voiced her opinion of Milly's "Guts" spells.

"Actually, it's got me going Madam President," Shirley said, holding her left hand out in the same manner as a schoolchild volunteering for something.

Euphemia just rolled her eyes.

"Supple and willing, that's what I like," Milly replied, looking at Shirley as she moved into an upright position with her hands on her hips.

"I train hard in the gymnastics club," Shirley replied as she brought her right fist up rather forcefully and placed her left hand over her upper right arm to emphasise her point.

"That's not what I was getting at," Milly said as she folded her arms and a rather strange mischievous grin crept onto her face.

"Huh?" Shirley said, somewhat confused.

"You're a ten," Milly replied as her grin widened.

"Huh?" Shirley repeated as she noticed Milly's eyes were not on her face and that they were staring right at her breasts.

"From what I've seen in the girls' bathroom anyway, you've been filling out in all the right places, huh?" Milly finished with a satisfactory smirk.

"Ho-ho," Rivalz laughed rather perversely as he leaned over and sneaked a glance at Shirley's breasts.

Upon noticing this, Shirley's arms immediately and rather quickly shot up and covered up her breasts despite the fact she was fully clothed and she felt rather embarrassed.

"Wha… what are you talking about you perv?" she said, turning to face Milly with a rather embarrassed look on her face.

"Just ignore her Shirley, she's just teasing you," Euphemia said, waving it off, "She just enjoys getting a rise out of certain people, so don't pay it too much mind."

* * *

Later, Shirley, Nina and Rivalz were walking down the corridor to their class after the meeting was over and by some miracle, they had managed to sort out that financial problem and balance out the budget, though only just. It had been a difficult struggle but in the end, it was all sorted and the equestrian club would not "ride in on horseback" as Rivalz put it.

"Jeez, our president's just a dirty old man on the inside," Shirley commented, remembering that rather perverted remark about her breasts, "Sullying the meeting with her filthy mind."

"Yeah well, that's Milly for you," Nina replied in her usual quiet and shy tone.

"Look on the bright side," Rivalz laughed as he also remembered Milly's comment, "We got the budget balanced, didn't we?"

"They used poison gas?" they heard a boy ask as they turned to enter the classroom.

"Huh?" all three said in unison noticing all the students in the room were crowding round laptops; two boys near the front sitting on chairs with the one to the right having wheeled over from his area from the desk and three students; two boys and a girl at the very back.

One boy sat on a chair at the desk; obviously the laptop was his and the other sat on the table to his right, looking down at the laptop's screen with his schoolbag sitting beside him and the girl to his left had her hands on the desk as she leaned over to see the laptop's screen as well.

"Man, that's freaky," the boy sitting on the desk said as if he was watching a TV programme, "Shinjuku's only thirty minutes from here."

On the laptop's screen a window showed a crowd of people gathering on a road that was sealed off by yellow tape with soldiers standing along its entire length behind it and a tank and transport vehicle sat behind it and at the bottom in white lettering were the words, "Shinjuku Ghetto sealed off to deal with poison gas".

"Oh my god, I saw smoke rising over in Shinjuku," the girl said somewhat fearfully as the image on the laptop zoomed in on five men dressed from head to toe in white suits as the somewhat muted voice of a news reporter spoke, "It must've been the gas."

"Are they saying anything else about it?" the boy sitting on the table asked as Shirley, Nina and Rivalz looked on, unaware that Euphemia had casually walked in behind them.

"Shinjuku?" Shirley asked as she turned to look at Euphemia upon noticing her arrival and remembering how Euphemia had contacted her the previous day asking if there were news reports concerning Shinjuku.

"I heard about it in real-time from a friend," Euphemia replied with a casual look on her face to quell Shirley's fears and suspicious before they had a chance to manifest themselves, "That's why I called you yesterday."

"Hey, check out the footage of those dead Elevens," the boy sitting on the chair said as if he found the footage now being shown rather excited and cool.

"Uh, don't look at that," the girl replied in a disgusted voice, clearly repulsed by the footage of dead bodies.

Euphemia's expression became rather serious as she was surprised that there was nothing about her mother's death or Clovis's injuries.

"This is strange," she thought to herself as her look hardened, "Why would they cover it up?"

As she recalled how she killed her mother and saw her brains and blood splatter out from the back of her head and seeing the dead bodies of the people who had fallen victim to the massacre, she felt herself wretch as she was unable to suppress the urge to vomit any longer. Her hand quickly flew up to her mouth as she turned and ran out of the classroom Maybe that's why she could not manage to fall over to sleep, she figured. Perhaps it was the wave of nausea and her fight to suppress it that had kept her awake.

* * *

Meanwhile, at a checkpoint to the entrance on a military facility, two soldiers walked up on either side of a rather expensive looking black and grey car in order to check to see if the people in the car were who they said they were. Both soldiers bent over to look inside.

* * *

Back at Ashford Academy in the girls' bathroom, Euphemia was standing at one of the sinks opposite the cubicles looking into the mirror as she let the tap run. She had just finished throwing up and was currently in the process of washing her hands. She figured that if anyone saw her, they'd assume that her nausea was brought on by the footage of those dead bodies, which was true in part. The footage was pretty gruesome to watch and the girl by the laptop was even grossed out despite the fact that these people were "Elevens", but Euphemia figured that dead bodies would freak anyone out, no matter if the bodies were of Britannians or not.

"Are they hiding mother's death and Clovis's injuries to fend off anarchy?" she wondered as she pondered on possible reasons for this cover-up, "But if that's the case, when they finally do announce it…"

She paused for a moment as she moved her hand to turn the tap off and then looked at her reflection in the mirror.

"Humph, I guess that I'm not as tough as I thought I was," she finished with a rather uncaring smile on her face as she came to a rather disturbing conclusion.

* * *

Back with the car, the soldiers had checked with the driver and passengers and everything was satisfactory. They took a step back as the barrier in front of the car, blocking its path was raised and it started to drive off into the settlement.

* * *

Inside the back of the car was none other than Jeremiah Gottwald and Villetta Nu, both having survived the battle that had taken place within the Shinjuku Ghetto. However, Jeremiah had a rather dissatisfied look on his face as he had just seen General Bartley and his men, who had apparently run off leaving Prince Clovis and Rochelle both unprotected and the funny thing was that neither Bartley nor his men had any recollection of abandoning the Prince and Imperial Consort. According to them, one minute, they were at their posts and the next, they were somewhere within the ghetto and not knowing exactly how they got there. That had to be one of the oldest excuses in the book Jeremiah had figured. In any case though, he was not too happy with the result of this visit.

"That ex-civil servant is such a fool," he said, letting his dissatisfaction by known.

"So are you referring to Bartley?" Villetta asked in a neutral tone, turning her head slightly to look at her superior.

"The killer has breached our heaviest security twice already," Jeremiah went on without acknowledging that he'd heard her, "This perfunctory inspection is a farce."

"Margrave Jeremiah," Villetta said in a tone that hinted that this was an opportunity for their faction, "With Lady Rochelle dead and Prince Clovis recuperating in the hospital unable to do anything for the time being, we Purebloods can, uh…"

Jeremiah raised his hand and motioned his finger in a manner that caused her to trail off as his index finger was in front of her mouth.

"Let me make that call," Jeremiah said with a smile, withdrawing his hand to its previous position as he knew exactly what Villetta was getting at and in truth, he had to agree with her and had every intention on going through with it, "We still need to woo everyone over."

In truth, he really did not care for the fates of Rochelle and Clovis and saw a tremendous once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to further the authority of the Purist Faction. It was a well-known fact that there were tensions between the Purist Faction and the Imperial Family due to the fact that the Purist Faction wanted rid of the Honorary Britannian system and the fact that the Imperial Family would not lift a finger to do anything about it and embraced the idea of Honorary Britannians. This tension had led to widespread rumours that the Purists were secretly plotting against the Imperial Family and were plotting to overthrow them. Of course, those rumours were completely unfounded and mere speculation. However, the Purist Faction clearly wanted more control in governing conquered "areas" and eventually it was hoped that the Imperial family would decide not to bother having their princes and princesses as viceroys and would give the rights to ruling those "areas" to the Purists.

Jeremiah figured that if he could bring this to a swift conclusion, then it might impress the Emperor enough to allow him to rule "Area Eleven" and not bother having another of his many children replace Clovis, whose career as Viceroy was now officially over. For now, control of "Area Eleven" had fallen to him as he was the highest ranking official able to assume command for the time being as those ranked higher than him were either dead or incapacitated, though he knew that it was only temporary. However, he was hoping for it to become a permanent position. However, for that, he'd need to find Rochelle's killer as quickly as possible and since that was impossible; he decided to make-do with selecting a scapegoat to take the fall instead. Of course, it meant that the real killer would get off scot-free, but he did not care whatsoever since they had clearly provided Jeremiah with an opportunity to further his ambitions and since Jeremiah figured that the killer was an "Eleven", with all the anti-"Number" policies he planned on introducing; the killer would end up getting his just-desserts anyway and as for a scapegoat… well, why not kill two birds with the one stone? Use an Honorary Britannian as a scapegoat and not only would he get a quick conclusion, but he would also provide his faction with the excuse they had so desperately been searching for to abolish the Honorary Britannian system once and for all.

He knew that the Royal Guard had used a platoon of Honorary Britannians in an attempt to retrieve the poison gas as well as sniff out the terrorists, so finding an Honorary Britannian as a scapegoat would be easy. All he needed to do was go through the list of names of the Honorary Britannians who were there in Shinjuku and select one. Nothing could possibly go wrong, he figured. The people were ignorant and gullible. In their anger over Rochelle's death and Clovis's injuries, Jeremiah knew that they would feel content so long as someone… and they did not care who it was got punished for them. An Honorary Britannian as the culprit was perfect as the majority of the people were in agreement with the Purist Faction about the Honorary Britannian system, with one of those Honorary Britannians as the culprit, they would clearly agree and not think to question it. They'd all buy it regardless of the facts.

"I can hardly wait," he thought to himself with a content smirk.

* * *

"Kallen, it's been ages," Euphemia heard a girl say as she returned to the classroom after her trip to the bathroom.

Upon, hearing the name, Kallen, she immediately stopped as she remembered the truck driver calling his female accomplice by that same name. She then looked towards the girl in question.

"Are you alright?" another girl asked with concern in her voice, "Sophie's been worried sick all this time."

The girl in question had three other girls standing round her and upon studying the girl sitting on the chair. Euphemia's eyes widened as she recognised her as the pilot of the Glasgow; remembering her from seeing her make her way to the Glasgow from behind C.C.'s capsule. However, she noticed that her hair was now straight instead of spiky and fanned out at the back and she wore a girls' academy uniform and she looked rather weak and vulnerable and her eyelids looked as if they were so heavy that they could close over her eyes at any moment.

"You're okay though, right?" the girl in the middle to her right asked curiously.

"Yeah, I just have to go easy for a little while," Kallen said as she turned to face the girl.

Euphemia continued to look on in surprise before she realised where the déjà vu feeling she felt when she saw Kallen pass had come from. She was a student at the academy, though now that Euphemia thought about it, she did not recall seeing Kallen attending classes regularly and unlike most of the other students who stayed in the dormitories, she stayed at her home, which was within commuting distance on the academy.

"Of course," she thought to herself in realisation, "That's why she's so familiar."

"Anyway, if I stay home any longer, I'll never catch up," Kallen said to the three girls unaware that Euphemia was staring at her even as she took her seat.

"What's up Euphie?" Rivalz said in a rather excited tone as he came up behind her, also looking at Kallen with a rather excited smile on his face and placed his hand at the side of his mouth in front of it as he leaned to speak in Euphemia's ear, "You've got thing for her don't ya?"

"What on Earth gave you that idea Cardemonde?" Euphemia replied in a quiet, yet outraged voice with Shirley sitting at the desk across from them to their right having overheard them, but otherwise not paying them any attention, "I'm just thinking that this is a rare event. She hasn't been here at school since this whole term started. I assure you that I'm not a lesbian, so just put all those disgusting thoughts of yours into your mind's trashcan, alright!"

However, Rivalz was looking at Kallen, who laughed along with the three girls with a far-off look on his face, leaning his cheek on his hand and failed to hear Euphemia's statement and the warning tone to lay off within it.

"Kallen Stadtfeld, they say she's sick or something," he went on, much to Euphemia's annoyance, "And she barely showed up at school last year either. Still, her grades are at the top of the class and she's a member of the Stadtfeld Family, which means she's well-bred and rolling in money. Man, you sure know how to pick 'em, though I never imagined you'd swing that way."

"I told you that I'm not gay," Euphemia growled in a quiet voice so as not to alert Kallen to the fact she was watching her, "Where did you get that idea you pervert? Is it because of Shirley's obsession with me?"

Shirley looked towards Euphemia curiously upon hearing her name mentioned.

"Well I, uh…" Rivalz started to say before he realised he had nothing to say at all.

"I can very much assure you Rivalz that even though I don't know why Shirley's so obsessed with me, I know for a fact that it's not what everyone else seems to think," Euphemia went on, clearly frustrated about the perverted thoughts that were no doubt going through the blue-haired boy's mind, "And as for Miss Stadtfeld, I'm just surprised to see her, that's all. She hardly shows up that I'm just surprised to see her. It's nothing like what you're thinking."

"If you say so Euphie," Rivalz said, waving her off as it was clear he was not convinced, "Though she's a touch too sheltered if you ask me."

However, Euphemia decided to ignore him, knowing that the more she tried to set things straight with him, the more convinced he'd become that she was lying to him. However, she decided that she would observe Kallen for now. If she was one of the terrorists whom she helped during the Battle for Shinjuku, then it was possible that she could be in deep trouble if Kallen heard her talking, since Kallen had heard her voice before and if she managed to put two and two together, then she may feel threatened and may try to silence her for fear of her exposing her true identity.

* * *

During a volleyball match in P.E. class, Euphemia noticed Kallen sitting by a wall with her knees up at her chest and her arms wrapped round her legs as she watched the other girls play volleyball; no doubt wishing she could join in.

* * *

Later, Euphemia held Kallen give a speech in history class on how Britannia was so great; nothing out of the ordinary about that, though as Euphemia listened carefully, she picked up a resentful undertone that was so well hidden that anyone else would have to listen very carefully to pick it up and no doubt, Kallen was swallowing an awful lot of pride just to say this since she obviously embraced her Japanese side more than her Britannian side. Nevertheless, no one else appeared to have caught on and Euphemia had to wonder if anyone in the class knew about her mixed blood.

* * *

At lunchtime, Kallen was sitting with the three girls eating her sandwiched lunch that she had prepared herself. They were all sitting on round stone outcrops on one of the inner courtyard's lawns between two trees happily chatting away to one another without a care in the world… well aside from Kallen whose mind was focussed on freeing Japan from Britannia's tyrannical rule. Just as Kallen took a bite out of her sandwich and was about to place it back in the box containing her other sandwiches, the other three girls screamed as a buzzing was heard and a bee came buzzing into Kallen's line of vision.

"It's a bee," the girl sitting opposite Kallen said as she pointed at the intruding insect, "A bee!"

"Huh?" Kallen said as she looked down at the bee and followed it looking rather oblivious.

"Oh my god Kallen, run," one of the other girls said as the three of them continued to scream and get up from where they were sitting and ran away, though they didn't run far as Kallen casually closed the lid of her lunchbox and stood up rather casually as if there was nothing wrong with a rather far-off look on her face.

She then took a step backwards and turned to run.

"Hurry up and run," one of the other girls shouted to her before screaming as the three other girls ran off in different directions. Kallen just made her way over a bush situated near one of the academy buildings with a row of columns holding up a roof forming an outdoor corridor at a relatively slow pace. Once behind the bush, Kallen rested her hands on her knees as she leaned forward and noticed that the bee was following her.

"I don't get it, why's a bee after me?" she asked herself curiously, "I wonder if there's a hive nearby."

The bee buzzed by the left side of her face and an annoyed expression appeared on Kallen's face as she was annoyed at it pestering her and she raised her left hand and followed the bee with her eyes before delivering a quick swipe at the bee, taking it out of the air and effectively killing it as it fell to the ground and amazingly enough, she managed to avoid getting stung.

"God I hate this," she said, standing up in an upright position with a rather frustrated look on her face as she glared ahead, "I'm sick of acting like a freakin' invalid."

She then took a rather aggressive bite out of her sandwich. She hated this life; the academy student's life. However, it was the best cover for her as should the rest of her group in the resistance managed to get captured, she'd be okay. Being part Britannian had its quirks as no one in the academy aside from the principal and his family knew of her mixed heritage. If she was at the academy and if the Britannians somehow tracked Ohgi and the others down, she'd be safe. That was what Ohgi and Naoto before he died had decided and given that the military were on high alert following the aftermath of the Shinjuku massacre, Ohgi had found it best that it was best that she return to Ashford until things calmed down.

However, it did not mean to say she liked it. She hated this place; hated how everyone she met denounced her people and called them "Elevens"; hated how everyone was getting taught how "great" Britannia was and how as Britannians they could do no wrong and above all, she hated socialising with these people. They were Britannians; they were the enemy. How could she ever be friends with them? She could never befriend a Britannian. Those three girls she hung around with; she did not consider them her real friends, though the act she put up was rather convincing, but they did not know of her mixed heritage and she figured that if they did, they'd all turn on her and abandon her. However, Ohgi and Naoto, between them had decided that this was the best course of action. Ohgi always did say how Naoto would have wanted her to remain in school in order to stop her protests.

She then glanced to her left and noticed that she was not alone. Staring at her with a rather serious look on her face was a girl with long pink hair and bright blue eyes who looked as if she was observing her.

"Crap, she saw me," Kallen thought, cursing her luck that she did not check to see whether she was alone before voicing her thoughts.

However, the girl, who was Euphemia did not seem in the slightest bit affected by her outburst nor did she seem to care about the glare she was receiving from Kallen, who was struggling to restrain herself from lashing out at her.

"There's no question it's her," Euphemia thought as she continued to stare in observation.

After fighting to regain her composure, Kallen calmly removed the sandwich that was still in her mouth and silently sighed.

"Can-can I help you with something?" she asked in a rather calm and collected tone, though Euphemia did notice a frustrated undertone despite the fact her mouth still had food in it.

Euphemia then activated her Geass.

"I want answers," she said in a somewhat demanding tone and Kallen felt a strange sensation enter her right eye before she had a chance to react.

"Of course," she said in an emotionlessly dead robotic tone as her eyes widened and her irises were surrounded by red glowing circles.

"Were you the one piloting the Glasgow in Shinjuku?" Euphemia asked simply, though she still maintained the demanding tone.

"Yes," was all Kallen said, confirming Euphemia's suspicions.

"Why terrorism?" Euphemia asked in a calmer tone, though the demanding nature laced within was still present.

"Because I'm Japanese," Kallen answered obediently as she was unable not to, "Though technically I'm half-Britannian."

"As I thought, she a half-blood," Euphemia thought, not that all surprised, "Now to see what she knows about what she and her cohorts really stole."

"What was it that you stole from the Britannians?" she went on curiously.

"Poison gas," Kallen replied simply, "We were going to use it against them, but unfortunately we were discovered too early and the capsule was lost in the resulting chaos. However, after seeing the Britannians massacring everyone in the ghetto, I'm not so sure that it was poison gas, but something else; something that the Britannians didn't want made public."

"Good deduction," Euphemia thought, surprised that Kallen had become suspicious of the capsule containing C.C. had been what was to blame.

"But why go so far?" she asked seriously, curious as to why she was willing to go to such lengths to help liberate her country from Britannia's iron grip.

* * *

At that point, Shirley happened to be walking down a corridor those windows oversaw the courtyard on the first floor while on the way to her next class. She just so happened to see Euphemia and Kallen staring at one another while behind the bush and walked up to the window to get a closer look; to see if her eyes were not playing tricks on her. It was a known fact that Shirley was obsessed with Euphemia and regardless of the nature of that obsession, it did bring out some rather disturbing insecurities within Shirley and caused her to jump to rather wild and sometimes insane conclusions that had a tendency to get rather out of hand.

Seeing Euphemia and Kallen together, not to mention the fact that there were standing behind a bush that was almost right up at the building caused her to come to a rather disturbing conclusion and she let out a gasp as she obviously completely misunderstood the situation entirely.

"Euphie… you…" she managed to get out before the rest of her words deserted her before making it to her mouth.

* * *

Back outside, Euphemia, believing that she had all the answers she needed released Kallen from her Geass, leaving the half-Japanese girl rather confused as she had no memory as to what happened. However, her memories quickly came back to her as she remembered noticing Euphemia staring at her after making a rather loud outburst, voicing her feelings.

"Um, d-did you want something?" she asked in a rather quiet and feeble tone as she got back into the role of a girl with a weak constitution.

"No, I got what I wanted here," Euphemia replied in a somewhat mean dismissive tone as she turned to leave before stopping after only taking a few steps, "Oh wait, just to be sure."

She then turned back to Kallen and reactivated her Geass and locked her eyes with Kallen's.

"Don't tell anyone about Shinjuku," she said in a tone that suggested she expected Kallen to comply without defiance.

"Uh, what do you mean about Shinjuku?" Kallen questioned in a rather calm tone laced with a hint of suspicion and apprehension, apparently unaffected by Euphemia's Geass.

Euphemia's eyes widened in surprise at hearing this.

"Why would you say that?" Kallen went on in the same tone, though it became somewhat demanding.

"Go back to class," Euphemia demanded as she regained her composure and sounding like she expected no defiance.

"As soon as I get an answer to my question I will," Kallen said in an equally demanding tone as she dropped her façade and glared demandingly at Euphemia.

"It's not working?" Euphemia thought with a look of surprise and fear, realising that she had made a blunder, "What's going on here?"

Kallen continued to glare as Euphemia started to take cautious steps backwards, ready to defend herself should Kallen decide to attack. She did not know what happened, but she knew that she did not know her Geass power as well as she thought and because of it, she just may have put her own life in danger as from the look on Kallen's face told her that she would kill her if she believed that there was a chance that she could expose her true identity and she doubted that she could beat Kallen in a fight anyway as it was apparent with her lack of exercise and Kallen's superb skills that the half-Japanese girl was clearly stronger than her.

"Hey, Euphie, Kallen," a voice came from one of the first-floor windows, causing them both to look up to see Shirley, who had opened the window and was now leaning out while waving at them, "You know it's time to head over to the chem lab, you better get a move on."

"Oh crap, it's my turn to set up for class," Euphemia said almost immediately as she slapped herself over the head, feigning surprise before she ran off before Kallen could stop her and interrogate her further.

Kallen turned and watched her run off, leaving her to ponder over her suspicions.

"It didn't work, but…" Euphemia thought as she continued to run and knew that unless she could come up with some kind of plan; Kallen would almost definitely try to kill her at the first available opportunity if she felt that her façade was under threat of being exposed.

However, she was spared Kallen's wrath by Shirley this time.

"Thanks a million Shirley," she thought in relief, "If it wasn't for all the talk everyone passed around about your obsession over me, I could just kiss you."

However, she knew that next time, she may not be so lucky and she knew that Kallen would probably watch her like a hawk while waiting for an opportunity to corner her to present itself. Cursing her bad luck, she knew that for now, she'd just have to leave it. However, she knew that if she did not think up of something and fast, she would be in deep trouble.

"Damn it, I think I can safely label C.C. as my bad luck charm," she thought, cursing the immortal girl, whom she had yet to interrogate over the Ragnarok Connection and other things, "Why me?"

* * *

C.C. currently sat on Euphemia's bed bored out of skull. It was boring being held up in a bedroom all day, but Euphemia had insisted since she knew that the military would no doubt be looking for her. Well, the only comfort was that Euphemia had not yet confronted her in her search for answers over the Ragnarok Connection and her association with Lady Marianne. However, that did not change the fact that she was currently bored with nothing to do. Euphemia had told her to stay in her room. They had been rather fortunate that everyone had been asleep when they arrived back at the academy the previous night, so it had been rather easy for Euphemia to sneak C.C. into her room without drawing suspicion.

Of course, she could disobey Euphemia, but given her outfit and the risk of being seen, she decided that it would be too risky to try. Someone may end up reporting her to the authorities and there was also the added risk that Euphemia and Nunnally's true identities could be exposed and then thing would prove rather complicated. For the plan to work, their secret had to remain secret. Without Marianne, access to the Imperial Palace back in Pendragon would prove rather difficult and if Euphemia and Nunnally were to go back, it would be difficult for her to keep an eye on Euphemia and ensure that no harm came to her. She needed her alive in order for Euphemia to fulfil her end of their contract. Her role was vital to the plan. She had to live.

"Huh, oh it's you," C.C. suddenly said aloud despite the fact that no one was in the room, "What can I do for you?"

There was a moment of silence before C.C. started to talk again.

"I see, so what has our child-like friend got cooked up?" she asked curiously, "I can't imagine that it's anything good."

After another moment of silence, C.C. sighed.

"I suppose, but if it's just to observe, I don't see what the problem is," she replied to the mysterious person who could easily be mistaken for her imaginary friend if anyone saw her.

There was a few moments of silence and then C.C.'s eyes widened in shock and surprise.

"WHAT!" she screamed, forgetting to keep her voice down, "YOU'RE COMING OVER HERE! BUT THAT COULD BE DANGEROUS!"

C.C. suddenly winced, obviously being scolded for raising her voice before relaxing with a sigh.

"You're taking a huge risk coming here," C.C. said in a lowered voice with a hint of warning in her tone, "You realise that they may seek to silence you; putting you and your host in danger; not to mention if Euphemia finds out the truth, it'll ruin everything. She's already as nosy as it is; interested in the Ragnarok Connection. I told Charles that it was a bad idea substituting her for Lelouch. She's proving to be too unpredictable and curious to control."

After a full minute's worth of silence as C.C. listened to the person sh was talking to, she then sighed and nodded her head.

"I understand," she said simply in a defeated tone, "You'd rather risk everything than have V.V.'s cronies interfere with Euphemia. I suppose that's plausible, but I still don't like it. It may prove disastrous in the long run. By the way, you'll be pleased to know that Euphemia got rid of Rochelle… yes, she murdered her own mother and in cold blood at that, though I don't think her conscience's letting her off easily."

C.C. then chuckled as her expression became rather content.

"I understand and don't worry, Nunnally's completely oblivious to Euphemia's actions in the Shinjuku Ghetto," she said simply, "I don't think Nunnally will be getting involved anyway. She's too innocent and in her current condition, she hasn't much to offer in the way of helping Euphemia in her aims… I will, don't worry about it."

* * *

Meanwhile in the Imperial Palace of Pendragon over on the Britannian homeland, a young pink-haired girl with dark brownish red eyes widened her eyes in surprise. Fourteen-year-old Anya Alstreim gasped as she studied her surroundings in confusion. Just how did she get here? She was currently standing in the middle of her own bedroom with no apparent memory of how she had gotten there. The last thing she clearly remembered was walking out in the Palace courtyard and another thing that struck her as odd; it was dark outside and when she was walking in the courtyard, it had been early to mid-afternoon. Just what in the world happened to her?

It was nothing new to her. She had been experiencing these black-out sessions in which portions of her life were missing for seven years now and yet, they were still pretty terrifying to say the least. She also kept entries in her blog and a nine-year diary that she could not remember having written and she was also haunted by images and memories that she was sure were not her own; images of two young children playing happily in the garden of the Aries Villa, which was now sealed off following the assassination of Marianne vi Britannia who lived there. Sometimes, her visions would show her a third child; a pink-haired girl much like herself. She could not understand it. She had been to see several psychiatrists and psychologists and they could not determine what was wrong with her. Most of the time, Anya was emotionless and hardly ever showed an emotion whatsoever, but those ordeals terrified her. She had no idea what was causing them and her family had mostly all abandoned her, believing that she was going insane and Anya had to admit that she had to agree with them. Those memory black-outs along with those visions that plagued her were driving her insane.

Nevertheless, she was now the Knight of Six in the Knights of the Round; having been the youngest person to ever become a member of the twelve strongest knights in all of Britannia and she did her best to ignore those episodes. Whatever they were sure were annoying and frightening, but they did not affect her position.

A knock at the door to her room brought her out of her thoughts and back to reality.

"Lady Alstreim," the voice of a rather experienced middle-aged man came from the other side, "His Majesty, Emperor Charles requests your presence in the Royal Courtroom."

"Huh, His Majesty wants to see me?" she asked herself in a confused tone, "Why?"

She then shook her head and regained her composure.

"Tell His Majesty, I'll be right there Lord Waldstein," Anya replied simply before going to get herself ready.

"Okay, but please try to hurry, you know how impatient His Majesty gets whenever he's kept waiting," Lord Waldstein replied with a sigh.

* * *

**Author's Notes **– And another one bites the dust… just kidding, it's just my latest chapter. So now Euphemia unknowingly has V.V.'s goons to contend with and Anya will be coming to Ashford soon. How will things play out; especially since as C.C. has said, Euphemia's too unpredictable to control? Will Euphemia catch on or will V.V. and his group be too much for her? However, next time, Euphie will be more concerned about getting Kallen off her back to notice the other dangers brewing round about her. I've already formulated what Euphemia's alter-ego will be and I have said before, it won't be Zero and I can guarantee that there'll be a few surprises in store in future. I noticed one reviewer asking about Anya and to answer your question, I was already planning on having her at Ashford early on, though it won't be until after Rochelle's funeral and she'll mainly be observing Euphemia and talking to her about her troubles as well as give her supporter from behind the scenes.


	10. Of terrorists and classmates

**Code Geass – Euphemia of the Revelation**

**Of terrorists and classmates**

**Disclaimer **– Code Geass is the property of Sunrise, Bandai Entertainment and Ichiro Okouchi, so I don't own anything afflicted with Code Geass.

* * *

**Warnings **– Strong language, strong violence, Euphemia OOC (obviously), yuri, possible lemons in later chapters (unsure)

* * *

It was dusk when Euphemia arrived at her home within Ashford Academy after making sure that Kallen was not following her as she had made a blunder earlier that day with her Geass and now Kallen no doubt felt threatened that her identity as a terrorist would be exposed. Cursing herself, she decided to have a little chat with C.C. about it to see if she knew of a possible explanation as to why her Geass failed when she tried to use it on Kallen a second time and while on the subject of C.C., Euphemia knew that she had still yet to interrogate her about the Ragnarok Connection, her association with Lady Marianne and other things. However, so far, she just could not find the time to spare to do that at the moment. She had promised Nunnally that she would have dinner with her tonight and she would not break a promise to her little half-sister no matter how much she wanted to know what C.C. knew. She decided to just ask her about her Geass for the moment.

Luckily for her, C.C. was waiting for her down in the main lobby of the building, much to Euphemia's displeasure.

"I thought I told you to stay in my room," she growled frustratingly, "You know if someone sees you in that restraining outfit, I could get into a lot of trouble; Nunnally and me both."

That much was true. If someone saw C.C. and reported her in, then the police or military could come to recapture her and in the process may see Euphemia or Nunnally and recognise and inform people that Euphemia did not want to know and then news could travel back to the Emperor who would undoubtably force them both to come back to Pendragon so he could use them as political tools once again to further his own ambitions and with the added threat that her role in Rochelle's death may be discovered, she could very well be executed for treason and she could not and would not have that under any circumstances.

"We need to talk Euphemia," C.C. replied, completely ignoring Euphemia's statement, much to her annoyance.

"You're darn right we do," Euphemia replied as she swallowed her frustration over the immortal's ignorance, "I'm curious about my Geass."

"Oh, and why is that?" C.C. asked, raising a curious eyebrow.

"Is there any possible way for someone to lose the power of Geass?" Euphemia asked with a demanding look on her face; making it clear that she would not let C.C. go without an answer.

"Besides dying?" C.C. said with a shrug, not that all affected by Euphemia's look, "There is one way that you could possibly lose your Geass, but it's way too early for that and besides, you'd need me for that to happen. I can assure you that you haven't lost your Geass. Why do you ask?"

"You know the pilot of that red Glasgow?" Euphemia replied as she folded her arms, "Well, it turns out that she's here as a student… probably as a cover and I interrogated her. However, when I tried to use my Geass on her a second time when I realised that I'd forgotten to mention a few things, it didn't work; so now, Kallen's out for my blood."

"Uh huh," C.C. said with a nod, not looking all that surprised, "Well I can honestly say that it must be a limitation of your Geass. All Geasses have their drawbacks and limitations. If anything, I'd say that you can only use it once on any given person. Once that person is released from your Geass, you can't use it on that same person again."

Euphemia nodded with a satisfied expression on her. That seemed logical. She could only use it on a person once before that person became immune to her Geass's effects. If that was the case, then she knew that she had to think really hard before giving commands as she'd be unable to rectify any misinterpretations or add things on that could possibly come into her mind later after the person she was commanding was released. It was a major drawback if she got it wrong and she knew that she had to be careful on how she phrased her commands and make sure she approached situations from all possible angles before issuing commands so as not to make realisations later as she'd be unable to do anything about them.

Now all she had to do was find a way to get Kallen off her back and maybe, she figured, she could turn this to her advantage and use this situation to get the much needed help she knew she would need to topple Britannia.

"Euphemia, if you're finished asking questions, there's something we need to talk about," C.C. said with a serious look on her face.

"It can wait till later," Euphemia said, waving her off as she started to walk by her, "I promised Nunnally that I'd have dinner with her tonight… and consider yourself lucky that I'm in no mood for interrogating you for the time being because I still intend to get that information out of you."

C.C. winced as she was visibly disturbed at that comment. However, she just shrugged it off for now, deciding that her problem would have to wait for now as she knew that Euphemia would not want to delay Nunnally any longer than she had to. However, she knew that if she wanted Euphemia's help, she would undoubtably have to divulge what Euphemia wanted to now as payment and that disturbed her greatly. Euphemia was too curious and suspicious and C.C. knew that Euphemia was after information that she was not ready to know just yet. It definitely was a problem. Euphemia's unpredictability was looking to be more and more of a danger. However, C.C. was determined that she would find a way out of this; not tell Euphemia everything, but just give her enough to satisfy her.

* * *

Nunnally Lamperouge sat on her wheelchair in her bedroom at a wooden circular table. Sitting opposite her was Sayoko Shinozaki, the Lamperouge's personal maid that the Ashford Family had given to them, though before being transferred to work for the Lamperouge siblings, she had been Milly's personal maid. Sayoko sat on a comfy soft chair draped in a white cover as she was busy teaching Nunnally about origami.

"Well, what shall we do?" Sayoko asked as she paused from her activities, "She may be late again this evening."

"I'll wait," Nunnally said in a somewhat disappointed tone; disappointed that her half-sister was late again, "She said, we'd have dinner together tonight."

Sayoko then went back to what she was doing and finished rather quickly, having folded a pink piece of paper into the shape of a long-necked bird.

"There now, this one's finished," she said, holding it out to Nunnally by the wings with both her hands.

Nunnally rather slowly reached out her hands and felt around for it as her eyes were closed and she could not see. After Sayoko placed it in her hand, Nunnally used her other hand to feel over the top.

"Uh, a bird?" she asked curiously.

"Yes, it's a crane," Sayoko replied happily.

"Amazing," Nunnally replied, feeling rather intrigued, "The Japanese are so skilful."

Sayoko just let out a short, yet cheerful laugh. She rather liked the Lamperouge siblings and like the Ashford family, knew of their true identities and yet did not turn them over to the Imperial Family. Unlike many Britannians who saw her and her people as "Elevens", both Euphemia and Nunnally acknowledged them all as Japanese; probably due to spending time in Japan before the war, but Sayoko knew that they'd both have used the term, Japanese instead of "Elevens" regardless. Both Nunnally and Euphemia were extremely kind to her and treated her like a person and not a slave; not that Milly treated her that way when she was still in her service. In fact none of the Ashford Family treated their staff, which were mainly made up of Japanese as mere slaves. However, Euphemia and Nunnally took it further than most and regarded Sayoko as part of their family and that touched her greatly.

Nunnally suddenly turned her head towards the door to the room, causing Sayoko to look on questioningly.

"Lady Nunnally?" she said, wondering what was wrong before looking towards the door herself.

The door suddenly slid open and Euphemia came walking in with a rather apologetic look on her face.

"I'm sorry I'm so late," she apologised to both Nunnally and Sayoko.

"Hi Euphie," Nunnally said as her face burst into a rather excited smile, "Welcome home."

"Yes, welcome home my Lady," Sayoko commented as the door closed behind Euphemia.

"No place like it Sayoko, right Nunnally?" Euphemia replied with a kind and caring smile adorning her face before turning to face Sayoko, "I've already told you that I'd prefer it if you'd just call me Euphemia or Euphie. I don't like formal titles."

"My apologies," Sayoko said with a bow, "By the way, earlier one today, I thought I heard someone shouting in your room."

Euphemia groaned in surprise as she tensed up, realising that C.C.'s presence in her room may not be as much of a secret as she would like.

"However, I was listening to the radio, so it may just have been my imagination," Sayoko went on, having not noticed Euphemia's reaction, which caused Euphemia to relax, "Or it could have been something in the background."

"Thanks Sayoko, but there's no need to worry," Euphemia said after regaining her composure, "I'm sure it was nothing."

However, secretly, she was thinking about having a word with C.C. about keeping the noise down in her room.

* * *

Meanwhile, Bartley Asprius was standing with his back to the exit of a hidden lab standing before a group of scientists who were all gathered round a rectangular table. On the wall opposite the door was a line of restraining suits identical to the one C.C. wore. To the wall on the right was a table that ran the length of the wall with a row of laptops sitting on the top and to the left on a lowered floor were a row of capsules identical to the one C.C. had been imprisoned in connected at the top by a thick pipe that ran across the room. On the table were several photographs of C.C.; most of which were documenting the experiments carried out on her and one showing her fleeing from the military before her capture. Two of the five scientists sat at the table with laptops, the man and one nearest Bartley on the right and the woman to the left near the far wall with two at the left near Bartley; one standing up from his seat and a woman to the right near the far wall standing where the photographs were. The one to the left nearest Bartley also seemed to be looking over documents.

"As you know full well," Bartley was saying, "The project was a complete failure. Therefore, this research division is being gutted."

"Huh?" one of the male scientists said in dissatisfaction.

"Wha…?" another stated.

"Yes, but…" another protested.

"I've set up a place in Narita for you," Bartley replied, quelling their unhappiness and dissatisfaction, "Move everything out there."

He then paused and sighed before continuing.

"While we may have no memory of it, the fact is, the other staff officers and I left Prince Clovis and Lady Rochelle on their own," he said in a tone filled with depression and regret, "I'm going to be called out of a carpet for this back at home. When that happens… if His Majesty learns these experiments… gone on without his knowledge, I…"

"Understood sir," one of the scientists said in understanding, "We'll start prepping immediately."

Bartley sighed in relief. With the loss of C.C. and death of Rochelle, the project had been labelled a failure. He knew that Prince Clovis would no doubt pull his funding from the Code-R Research Division once he recovered from his injuries as he had been pretty much in the dark about the whole thing and learning the truth had terrified him. Luckily for him, he had thought ahead. He had money stashed away in a secret account that would ensure his research division's survival for at least three years. However, Bartley knew that unless he moved all the division's resources and equipment elsewhere, the money in that secret account would go to waste as Prince Clovis would undoubtably see to it that the entire division was shut down; even if he was no longer acting Viceroy. Bartley needed to make it look as if he had abandoned everything while continuing his research in secret… especially if the rumours he heard about the Emperor deciding to replace Prince Clovis with Princess Cornelia were true as Princess Cornelia had a fierce hatred for those who used human guinea pigs as part of science experiments following the crippling of her younger half-sister, Nunnally vi Britannia, who was now dead.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Lamperouge home in Ashford Academy, Euphemia was currently cutting up a stake into small long edible pieces while listening to Nunnally talking about her time with Sayoko before she had shown up. Both sat at a long rectangular table with rounded ends with Nunnally sitting at the end closest to the window and Euphemia sitting to her right and four chairs sat vacant; one beside Euphemia to her right, one on the opposite end from where Nunnally was sitting and the last two on the opposite side from where Euphemia was sitting.

"Miss Sayoko was just teaching me about the art of origami," Nunnally stated rather hurriedly, "Fold a piece of paper the correct way and you can make birds, boats, almost anything."

She then took a spoonful of her bowl of soup to her mouth and drank it up, though a small stream of soup trickled out the left side of her mouth and ran down the side of her chin.

"Uh," she said, noting how hot the soup was, though it was not scalding hot; just enough to startle her.

"Easy there, you don't have to tell me everything at once you know," Euphemia said in a comforting tone as she reached for a napkin and brought it up to the trickle of soup before gently wiping it away, "It's not like I'm going anywhere."

"Yeah, you're right," Nunnally replied with a beautifully soothing smile, "Thank you Euphie. Thank you for taking care of me for these past seven years. I really do still miss Lelouch though."

"You're very welcome," Euphemia replied in a comforting tone, feeling rather content despite what had happened to her recently, "And I miss Lelouch as well. I wish he were here."

In truth, there was something about Nunnally and her innocence that Euphemia found calming and soothing. Nunnally somehow managed to get her to relax and feel rather at ease with herself whenever she spoke. Nunnally still had her innocence and Euphemia was determined that she would keep it. She had lost what was left of hers in the Shinjuku battle and knew that that was only the beginning and no doubt, she'd end up killing more people and having more people die because of her actions and orders; including innocents, which she wanted to avoid, but knew that it would no doubt be impossible.

She wanted to spare Nunnally from that, knowing that she would not approve and becoming involved would undoubtably drive her into despair. Nunnally was just too innocent and pure to be brought into a horrific battle such as the one that had occurred in Shinjuku. However, Euphemia felt that this was something she had to do for both their sakes. She could not allow that man to continue his tyrannical reign of terror. She knew that the Emperor would not rest until he had the entire world under his control and then he'd force his outrageously evil policies on everyone else; which were, everything for Britannians and absolutely nothing for everyone else. He had to be stopped and Euphemia was determined to be the one to do it.

Nunnally gave a rather content and cheerfully laugh, which brought Euphemia out of her thoughts.

"I'm so happy," she said softly, much to Euphemia's surprise, "Cause last night, when you came home really late; you scared me a little."

"Did I?" Euphemia said feigning curiosity as a troubled expression appeared on her face, causing her to look down at the table as she was thankful that Nunnally could not see, "Sorry, I just have a lot on my mind, that's all."

"Hey," Nunnally said, bringing Euphemia's attention back to her as she held up the paper crane Sayoko had made for her in front of her half-sister with both her hands, "They say if you fold a thousand of these cranes your wish'll come true. So if there's anything at all that you've been wishing for…"

"No, not really," Euphemia said contently, though it was a total lie, "What about you? Do you wish for anything?"

Euphemia had a wish alright. She wished that she could kill that disgusting tyrannical man that she unfortunately had to live with being her father. She had already killed her mother and now she was going to make it her mission to kill her father as well. However, she knew that Nunnally probably did not share her wish. She was too kind and gentle and probably believed that there was good somewhere deep inside that man's cold hard exterior. However, Euphemia knew that Nunnally was just being naïve. That man did not have an ounce of goodness or compassion in his cold heart and would probably laugh at her if she told him that and then proceed to prove her wrong in the cruellest way possible.

"Just like you did to me," Euphemia thought as a furious look came over her face as she remembered the confrontation she had with her father and how he had given her a harsh slap in the face.

Nunnally looked off to the side for a moment, lost in thought as she was clearly thinking of a wish.

"Hmmm, I wish the world was a gentler place," she said after a few moments of silence.

"When the day finally comes that you can see again, I'm sure that it will be," Euphemia replied comfortingly.

"Really?" Nunnally asked, somewhat excitedly.

"I promise," Euphemia replied with a rather carefree look on her face.

"Though, the truth is, there are very few paths our future can take," she added in her thoughts, feeling rather troubled, "The Ashford Family sheltering us for now, but how long can that last? If our identities are exposed… even Rivalz, Shirley and the others will no doubt abandon us. We'll end up political tools or casualties of Royal ambition. I have to build a world where Nunnally can at least find happiness and if my role in my mother's death is exposed somehow, I'll no doubt end up swinging from the gallows and Nunnally will be left in the clutches of that evil tyrant. I won't let that happen. I must keep Nunnally away from that man at all costs."

That much was true, she knew. The Ashford Family could not shelter them both forever. Sooner or later, someone was bound to recognise them and report their whereabouts to the Imperial Family and then they'd be right back where they started; that man's political bargaining chips and he'd no doubt separate them and that was something Euphemia would not stand for. Nunnally was so helpless and fragile and for her to be shipped off to who knows where to some foreign leader who would do who knows what to her… it was something Euphemia just could not bear. She loved Nunnally as if she was her full-blooded sister and Nunnally was all she had. Losing her was something she just could not think about. Sure, in the past before their exiles, they had their arguments and disagreements, but that was just natural sibling rivalry; like one time when they were younger, they argued over who would marry Lelouch, but they never hated one another. In fact, back then, Nunnally and Lelouch were the closest of all Euphemia's half-siblings save her full-blooded sister, Cornelia.

There was also the added threat of Euphemia's role in Rochelle's death being discovered as she knew that Clovis may accidentally reveal something or someone who was really smart and suspected him may force the information out of him and then she'd be arrested and executed for treason, leaving Nunnally at that horrible tyrant's mercy and that was something that she was looking to avoid. Nunnally just could not deal with that man. He would undoubtably chew her up and spit her out with her philosophies. Nunnally would undoubtably end up a ruined and broken individual if faced with the wrath of that man and Euphemia was determined to avoid that scenario; even if it meant resorting to drastic measures.

She moved her hand over the pink paper crane and Nunnally took both her hands and manoeuvred her right hand so that her pinkie hooked round Euphemia's pinkie and their hands were beside one another with hooked pinkies.

"Huh?" Euphemia questioned curiously.

"Sayoko taught me this the other day," Nunnally explained with a rather kind smile, "It's called a Japanese promise."

"Really?" Euphemia laughed with a sweet smile.

"Cross my heart, hope to die, eat a thousand needles if I lie, pinkie promise song," Nunnally sang as she shook her hand up and down, taking Euphemia's with hers before releasing her pinkie and gave her half-sister a kind giggle.

"Hmm, well that's scary, I may have to eat a thousand needles someday," Euphemia said with a laugh.

"That's right, so I better not catch you telling lies, okay?" Nunnally said in a jokingly serious tone as she brought her hand closer to her face.

"Don't you worry, I'll never lie, I swear," Euphemia said with content assurance

"Not to you anyway," she added in her thoughts as her eyes took on a hard serious look.

* * *

Outside in the hallway, C.C. was leaning against the wall next to the door and had heard the conversation in its entirety.

"A promise to never lie, eh Euphemia?" she thought with a rather serious look on her face, "You really shouldn't make promises you don't intend to keep. It may come back to haunt you later. Promises are almost as fragile as trust; easily broken."

* * *

The next day, Euphemia stood on a bridge that ran across a stream that flowed through the academy grounds and she stared down at her reflection in the water with a serious look on her face and her stare focused on the reflection of her Geass eye as she briefly activated it.

"This is the only weapon I have," she thought to herself, remembering the events of the previous day and what C.C., "And I don't even know how to use it properly."

"Euphemia," a voice came, bringing her out of her thought and she looked up to see one of the teachers walking towards her, "Class'll be starting any minute you know."

"Oh, yes sir," Euphemia replied, realising that she had lost track of time.

Her look became serious as she decided to try a little experiment with her Geass in order to confirm if C.C. was right or not.

"Um, sir, what are the topics gonna be for the essays on your next exam?" she asked curiously as she activated her Geass.

"The Humiliation of Edinburgh, the transfer of the Capital and North and South War topics," the teacher replied rather obliviously as Euphemia noted the red glowing circles that highlighted his irises, meaning that he was under her control.

"So, I haven't lost the power then," she concluded as she deactivated her Geass, "Not that I believed that I had; still, it's nice just to be sure."

The teacher then looked momentarily surprised as he felt that he had just woken up from a sleep, knowing that something must have just happened.

"Sir," Euphemia said, grabbing his attention before he had a chance to think as she reactivated her Geass and looked him directly in the eye, "What exactly are the topics gonna be for the essays on your next exam?"

"Right, very funny," the teacher said as he started to walk off with his hands in his trouser pockets, forgetting about his brief reality lapse, "Maybe you should try studying eh? Just apply yourself and you'll do fine."

"Yes sir!" Euphemia called out to him as she briefly stood firmly upright, making it look as if she was standing at attention before relaxing.

"It's just as C.C. said and just as I suspected," she thought rather contently with a content smile, "I can only use it on a person once. Now for the other matter I need to deal with."

* * *

Meanwhile, Kallen was leaning on a balcony looking over the Tokyo Settlement as she spoke to Ohgi via her cell phone. Needless to say, she was not too happy about remaining in school and wanted more than anything to just ditch the academy permanently and stay with her real friends in the resistance group. However, Ohgi was having none of it, though he was worried about her and called to check up on her as he had promised Naoto that he would take care of Kallen if anything were to happen to him before he was shot.

"So, how's campus life treatin' ya?" Ohgi's voice came over the phone.

"Stifling," Kallen replied with a hint of frustration in her voice, "I was stuck in history class yesterday."

History class was her most hated subject, as it did nothing but glorify all of Britannia's achievements; twisting them in such a way that made Britannia out to be in the right and everyone else was in the wrong. Kallen found it downright sickening. It absolutely repulsed her to no end. This was Japan, not "Area Eleven" and the natives were Japanese, not "Elevens". This country belonged to the Japanese; not the Britannians and for the Britannians to claim that conquering Japan and demoting its native people was the right thing to do… it left a rather bitter feeling in the pit of her stomach and what infuriated her more was that the Britannian students all went along with it; no questions asked. Britannia seemed to believe that because it was so powerful that it could do whatever it wanted and step on whoever it wanted and that it can get away with it. That notion left Kallen feeling a rather bitter hatred for Britannia and its people. She just could not stand being around them despite the effectiveness of her façade of a girl with a weak constitution.

"Look, maybe I should just head back," she said, wanting nothing more than to leave this wretched school.

* * *

"The army's on a high alert right now," Ohgi said from the group's hideout in the basement of a warehouse in the Shinjuku Ghetto with a Japanese flag pinned on the wall behind him, "Stay there and let things cool off."

"But, I don't know… what about the voice on the radio?" Kallen's voice came over Ohgi's cell phone.

"You can't go looking for a voice," Ohgi replied simply in a serious tone as he glanced behind him and looked at a picture that showed both him and a younger Kallen with a man with the same colour of hair as Kallen sitting between them wearing a red headband similar to those worn by the members of the resistance group, "Besides, Naoto would be happy to see you back in school."

That was a low blow and he knew it. However, he knew that it was the only way to get Kallen to listen to reason. All he had to do was mention her dead brother and she would give up on her arguments. It was rather effective and Ohgi did promise Naoto that he'd look out her his sister.

* * *

Back at Ashford Academy, Kallen flinched at hearing Ohgi's statement and had to admit that he did have a point. Naoto would have wanted her to stay in school and probably would have wanted her to socialise as well as unlike her, Naoto did not blame all Britannians for the war and believed that there were some who were opposed to what their people were doing. However, it was hard for Kallen to believe that. Every Britannian she had met so far looked down on the Japanese and saw them as nothing more than trash or punching bags to relieve their stress. She had yet to meet someone who proved her brother right; but nevertheless, mentioning her dead brother did succeed in making her see reason.

"Forget about Shinjuku for now," Ohgi's voice came over the phone, as he continued on from his last statement, "I'll be in touch."

The sound of him hanging up was heard before Kallen let out a defeated sigh.

"Shinjuku… I guess he's right, but…" she thought as she closed up her cell phone before her eyes widened as she suddenly remembered her encounter with that pinkette girl the previous day.

"Don't tell anyone about Shinjuku," the pinkette had told her.

"No, it couldn't have been her voice," she thought rather fearfully with a seriously determined look in her eyes.

She had to admit, that girl's voice kind so sounded familiar, but two days had already passed since the Shinjuku massacre and her memory of what the voice on the radio had sounded like had already left her, so she could not be a hundred percent certain if it had been that girl or not.

* * *

Later in class, Kallen listened carefully as the same pink-haired girl was giving a talk on the Britannian aristocracy as she stared at the girl's reflection through a mirror on the back of the lid of her pencil case.

"It could be…" Kallen thought, noting the similarities between that girl's voice and the mysterious woman's voice during the whole Shinjuku affair, "No… I can't remember well enough to be sure."

The girl finished her talk and moved to sit down.

* * *

As Euphemia finished giving her talk on Britannian aristocracy and sat down, she glanced over at Kallen who was sitting a row down from her near the centre and noticed her closing over her pencil case and saw the mirror on the bottom of the lid as she completely blocked out the teacher's lecture.

"All I did was mention Shinjuku," she thought with a serious look on her face, making it look as if she was embroiled in the lecture, "But…"

* * *

"If she knows who I really am, then," Kallen thought, letting her eye travel to the girl.

* * *

"At the first opportunity…" Euphemia went on in her thoughts.

* * *

"I need to take care of her," Kallen concluded as her eye glanced at the girl as she made up her mind.

She'd get the girl alone and then just kill her anyway. If she was right, then she would have saved herself from exposure and if she was wrong… well, the girl was Britannian, so she did not care either way. It would simply mean one less Britannian in the world for it to worry about.

* * *

Meanwhile, a group of Sutherlands surrounding a transporter travelled down the road en route to the airport as part of a convoy.

* * *

Inside the transporter was a coffin draped in a Britannian flag. The coffin contained Rochelle's body and Bartley sat off to the right watching over the coffin and overseeing its journey to the airport to be flown back to the homeland.

"And the research centre?" he said, talking to someone over a communicator.

"Transferred to Narita last night," the man's voice came over the communicator.

"Right then," Bartley said in a quiet distraught tone with a hand on his forehead as he wallowed in his failure to protect both Prince Clovis and Rochelle… well for Prince Clovis, definitely. However, Rochelle… he could honestly say that he had absolutely no sympathy for her whatsoever.

That woman, in his opinion had gotten what she had coming to her. She had clearly been insane and beyond reason.

"I pray you forgive me Your Highness," he went on as he let out a disgusted sneer as he looked at the coffin, "As for you, I'm not so sympathetic about your passing you demonic bitch. I'm just thankful that His Highness is still alive. You on the other hand, got what you deserved for that massacre you instigated."

He then gave the coffin a rather violent kick to emphasise his lack of sympathy for the former Imperial Consort.

* * *

Back at Ashford Academy, classes were finished for the day and Euphemia was busy putting her books away in her schoolbag as she glanced over at Kallen who was surrounded by her "friends" who were suggesting that they all should go out together. Shirley came up to Euphemia, hoping that she would join her.

"Hey Euphie, you comin' along?" she asked with a smile on her face.

"Sorry, maybe some other time," Euphemia replied somewhat harshly as she walked off towards Kallen with Shirley feeling that she had been rather cruel.

"Yeah, I though so," one of Kallen's "friends" said after Kallen declined their offer.

"You gotta go straight home, right?" another of her "friends" said in understanding.

"What do you have, a curfew?" a third asked rather jokingly before they all noticed Euphemia walking towards them.

"What's up?" one of the girls asked in a polite tone.

However, Euphemia ignored her and walked in front of Kallen's desk, staring down at her with an unreadable expression on her face.

"You think that you could spare a minute," she said in a tone that made it clear that she was not asking, "I need to talk to you."

"Huh?" Shirley, who was still in the room said in confusion as she suddenly remembered what she had seen the previous day.

Apparently, all four of Kallen's friends were just as curious as Shirley was, though they were not jumping to ridiculous conclusions.

Kallen just calmly pushed her seat back and stood up, giving Euphemia an equally unreadable expression on her face.

"Sure, I was wondering when you were gonna ask," she said in a neutral tone with just the tiniest hint of excitement laced in with it.

"Huh?" Shirley exclaimed as Kallen's four friends all let out loud surprised screams as they were also taken aback.

Now Shirley being Shirley had this rather bad habit of jumping to outrageous conclusions and given the fact that she had witnessed Euphemia and Kallen behind a bush the previous day, plus the dialogue she just heard between them just now; it only served to confirm her thoughts. However, Kallen and Euphemia had already left the room before she could say anything about it.

* * *

Back with the convoy, a Sutherland's head was blown off as the convoy had come under attack by a group of Sutherlands belonging to the Purist Faction.

"I hope you can see how determined we are now," the voice of Jeremiah Gottwald boomed over his Sutherland's PA speakers as the other Sutherlands surrounded the transporter and stood guard over the area to ensure the area was secure as smoke rose up from the decimated Sutherlands

"But, I already told you," Bartley said from inside the transporter as Jeremiah's Sutherland tore open the roof with its hands.

"That you don't remember," Jeremiah's voice boomed as he ripped open the roof completely and threw it to the side, "Still clinging to that ridiculous excuse?"

The back of the Sutherland opened up and the cockpit seat moved out to reveal Jeremiah glaring down threatening at Bartley.

"Just ask the others… they'll testify," Bartley pleaded as he backed away fearfully; scared that Jeremiah was intending to kill him.

"Ducking the blame, you're pathetic," Jeremiah said in a disgusted tone, clearly not believing what Bartley was telling him, "You shalln't remain at her Royal Lady's side another minute."

"B-b-b-but I…" Bartley stuttered, never having been more fearful over anything in his entire life.

"Oh quit your blubbering," Jeremiah said as he rolled his eyes, "Luckily for you, it wouldn't look good if I just killed you, so consider yourself lucky. I'm only sparing you because your death would prove bothersome to my ambition."

* * *

Back at Ashford Academy in Euphemia's room, C.C. sulked at having to spend another day held up in here cooped up and unable to get out and enjoy herself. She had been meaning to talk to Euphemia about that as she did not want to stay in her room all day long. It was stifling and frustrating to say the least. C.C. found herself lying on Euphemia's bed looking up at the ceiling as she mused over her long life since medieval times over in what was known today as the EU or more specifically, the South Coast of France and Italy before Napoleon Bonaparte's revolution led her over to the original Britannian homeland and she came over to the present day Britannian homeland among those who had fled to the Americas after Napoleon's forces won the Battle of Trafalgar.

"I'm so bored," she said with a frustrated sigh, "I need to get out more."

However, Euphemia had been insistent that she remain up in her room. The last thing she wanted was for the military to be all over the academy and for her to possibly be arrested for aiding and abetting and C.C. did not want that either. The risk of Euphemia being exposed was just too great, plus now that she knew that V.V. was aware of Euphemia's whereabouts and was sending some of his cronies over to keep an eye on her, things would undoubtably become more complicated. She had to ensure that Euphemia survived. It was imperative that she survived. Euphemia was the key to the entire plan; despite her unpredictability. C.C. knew that they would just have to make do.

"Oh, it's you," C.C. said, obviously being contacted by the mysterious person she had been talking to before, "So when will you be arriving here?"

There was a moment of silence before C.C. sighed.

"After Rochelle's funeral, huh?" she said, shaking her head, "You do realise that by then, V.V.'s agents will already be here. I still think you're taking a huge risk."

After another moment of silence, C.C. just shook her head and let out a sigh of frustration.

"You may be willing to risk it, but supposing Euphemia discovers something too soon, what then?" she said aloud, "I'm in a position where I need to keep an eye on her, but in order to do that, I'm going to have to tell her something to ensure her cooperation… no I won't tell her the things she's not ready for; just enough to satisfy her curiosity for the time being."

She then let out a sigh.

"I'll do my best," she said simply, "It's just that it's really hard, you know. Euphemia's nothing like Lelouch. Her curiosity could prove problematic in the future and I think Charles's plan may work a little too well."

C.C.'s eyes suddenly widened in shock and she almost rolled off the bed.

"What, are you serious?" she said in a quiet, yet shocked voice, as she knew that raising her voice could lead to her being discovered and that could lead to potential problems later, "He's actually planning on doing that if things get to that point? That could prove dangerous in the long run, are you sure about this?"

C.C. winced and looked somewhat troubled.

"I-I suppose so, you do have a point," she said before she collected herself and a serious look washed over her face, "But what about Euphemia. If it comes to that point, the damage she could suffer could be rather devastating."

C.C. winced again as a look of concern came over her face and then she sighed.

"I understand; very well then," she said, sounding somewhat defeated, "But I think you're making too many assumptions and you overestimate Euphemia's resilience. She's only human after all. I'll continue to observe her and keep her from harm. However, if I feel that the plan may prove dangerous to her, I'm telling her everything."

She looked very troubled. This was not what she had expected. It seemed that to her conspirators, the success of the plans was an even higher priority than Euphemia's well being and in C.C.'s opinion, they were making too many assumptions with nothing to back them up and just plain blowing off her concerns like Euphemia did not matter. For the first time, C.C. had to wonder if what she was doing was right. She was all for the plan, but she had to wonder if it was really worth the possible price that Euphemia could possibly have to pay. She'd do her part for now, but like she had said, if she felt that it would get out of hand with regards to Euphemia, she'd tell Euphemia everything. After all, what was the point of the plan if the one meant to bring it to its conclusion was unable to? Of course, the obvious solution would be to find a replacement. Lelouch was the original "key", but he ended up dead by accident and Euphemia was chosen to replace him. Who would be able to replace Euphemia? The answer… C.C. shuddered just thinking about it.

* * *

V.V. sat in his room in the Imperial Palace as he mused over recent events. He knew that Euphemia li Britannia was still alive and that she had killed her own mother in "Area Eleven"; not that V.V. was sympathetic towards Rochelle or anything… far from it in fact. He absolutely despised Rochelle and wondered why Charles had chosen her as an Imperial Consort. The only thing V.V. could say that he and Rochelle had in common was that they both hated Marianne vi Britannia, albeit for different reasons.; Rochelle hated her for her commoner status and the fact that she was better than her and V.V. hated her because she had taken Charles's attention away from him. In truth, he could care less about Marianne's birth status. He only hated her because Charles had spent more time with her than with him., plus he saw her as a hindrance to their plan. However, that was in the past. Now the problem lay with Rochelle's youngest daughter, who was not supposed to be there that day and V.V. feared that she may have seen too much.

"Master V.V.," a voice came, causing him to turn his head to stare at a monitor showing the face of his female subordinate, "Everything's ready. We're ready to depart for Area Eleven. All we need now is your orders."

"Thank you Eleanor," V.V. stated with a sinister smile on his face, "Your orders are to observe Euphemia and report her progress to me. However, you are not to interfere with her. Just leave her to her own devices for the time being. Wait until I contact you before doing anything else."

"Understood sir," the woman, Eleanor said in a professional tone, "Rolo's already been assigned to go undercover as a student at Ashford Academy to keep an eye on her at school."

"Excellent," V.V. said with a nod, "And what of Charles? Is he aware of your position in the Office of Secret Intelligence?"

"No, Charles isn't aware of my activities in the OSI," Eleanor replied, shaking her head, "I can assure you that no one will take notice of my absence from the Royal Court. As far as Charles and my fellow Imperial Consorts are concerned, I'm off somewhere in the Chinese Federation on some diplomatic venture, which reminds me, if you'd be so kind as to call me Elaine Goodwin."

V.V. raised an eyebrow at this.

"I take it that that name is your alias," he said with a chuckle, "Though Elaine does kind of sound close to your real name, Eleanor el Britannia."

"What can I say sir?" Eleanor replied with a shrug, "Me and the El are just destined to be with one another."

V.V. nodded, deciding to play along for now.

"Yes, well you have your orders," he said as his expression became rather serious, "Remember, you are to just observe her, not interfere with her for now. I'll contact you when the situation changes. Now remember, you're not supposed to be in Area Eleven. If your cover's blown…"

"I understand sir," Eleanor said in an understanding tone, "Do what you must."

V.V. nodded as the monitor switched off and V.V. smirked.

"Okay Euphemia, the ball's in your court now, just what will you do?" he said with a sinister chuckle, "How far are you willing to go in order to uncover the truth? I look forward to our eventual meeting… that is assuming you survive that long. Regardless, I can hardly wait."

He then turned to a picture sitting on a brown wooden circle table that showed him and a man with brownish blonde hair standing behind him with his hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry Charles," he said with a sigh as he shook his head, "We're both striving for the same outcome. However, your plan leaves just too much to chance. Euphemia was not supposed to be there and neither was Lelouch. I honestly can't understand what went wrong. Lelouch wasn't supposed to die that day. Someday though, you'll thank me for this and realise that my way is better. Older brothers know best."

* * *

Eleanor el Britannia smiled as her communication link to V.V. was switched off. She then turned to face a boy standing behind her with short brown hair, purple eyes and he wore an Ashford Academy boy's uniform.

"Ah Rolo, do you understand the mission being assigned to you?" she said with a smile, knowing exactly what his answer would be.

"Yes Miss Goodwin, I'm to pose as a student at Ashford Academy and observe the target, Euphemia li Britannia," the boy, Rolo said in a rather obedient professional tone.

Eleanor nodded. Already Rolo was getting into the swing of things, addressing her by her alias.

"Now remember Rolo, you are to simply observe her, nothing more," Eleanor said as she gave the boy a hard stare with a seriousness in her voice that told him that he was not to do anything reckless, "Do not under any circumstances interfere with her activities, but rather observe them and report them back to me and then Master V.V. will handle the rest, are we clear?"

"Yes ma'am," Rolo said as he stood at attention.

Eleanor chuckled as she walked over to him and placed her hand on his head before ruffling his hair.

"Ah Rolo, your outward appearance makes you the perfect undercover agent the OSI has to offer," she said with a kind heart-warming smile as she pulled him into an embrace, "You look harmless; like a troubled boy who could easily pass off as being an easy target for bullies. However, in truth, you're nothing more than a ruthless killer who'll kill anyone that stands in your way."

"It's my job Miss Goodwin," Rolo replied simply, "I only do what the OSI tell me to do."

Eleanor nodded with a smile. She really adored Rolo. In the OSI, wherever she was, Rolo was not that far behind. He was loyal to her and Eleanor knew that Rolo's loyalty was to her and her alone. Not even the Emperor or V.V. had his loyalty, but she had. She supposed it was because she had raised him as if he were her own son ever since V.V. handed him over to her when he was still a young child. He was definitely more of a son to her than her biological son, Schneizel ever was. Schneizel did not get on well with his mother, that much was certain. In her opinion, he was just too… perfect; not that she had anything wrong with that, it was just that he came off as rather arrogant and cocky and let that power go to his head; much like Rochelle had done, though nowhere near the same level as Rochelle. However, it rather annoyed Eleanor how her son was just so perfect and let it go to his head and not once did he spare her a even a moment of his time. Rolo had filled in for Schneizel quite well.

"Of course you do," she said in response to his statement, "However, this is not an assassination mission… at least not yet anyway. The situation may change in future, but for now, just concentrate on observing her."

"Understood Miss Goodwin," Rolo said as Eleanor released him.

"Truth be told Euphemia, I can't say that I'm upset over your mother's death," she thought with a smirk, "In fact, you did a lot of us a favour. I never liked Rochelle that much anyway, so she won't be gaining my sympathies and as for you… when the order finally does come to kill you, I'll make it as painless as possible as a token of my thanks for removing that wretched thorn in so many of our sides."

It was true that Rochelle li Britannia was not well liked among the other Imperial Consorts and no doubt, very few would mourn her loss. Heck, even her younger sister, Danielle absolutely despised her and it was all due to the fact that Rochelle had developed this delusion that she was simply the best of all of the Emperor's Imperial Consorts and could not stand being proven wrong by anyone, whether it was Lady Marianne, whom Eleanor had to admit, though she did not like her for her commoner status, she had the utmost respect for due to her Knightmare piloting skills or the other nobility. They were all the same to Rochelle… inferior to her. Eleanor knew that she had given her sister hell because Danielle was younger than her and yet, better than her and that was something she just could not stand.

"I very much hope that you rot in Hell you repulsive bitch," Eleanor thought as a sneer crept onto her face as she remembered Rochelle's smug look whenever she walked around showing off.

Even her oldest daughter Cornelia was more popular than her.

* * *

**Author's Notes **– Another chapter done. I can honestly say that I've put in differences from the anime; such as introducing Rolo, the OSI, V.V. and Anya early. However, for the moment, they won't have a big role. They'll mostly be in the background, though Anya's presence will undoubtably cause problems for the OSI, which I have under Schneizel's mother, Eleanor who's secretly loyal to V.V. Euphemia will deal with her in due time. As for C.C.'s origins, it did say that she was around since medieval time, but it never specified where she actually came from and since this is an AU fic, I'm going to make her origins lie in the area of the French/Italian border on the Mediterranean Coast because it's a region my family and I went to for vacation twice and C.C.'s intended name, Cera sounds like it could be French. Anyway, next chapter, Euphemia and Kallen's situation will be resolved as well as Jeremiah forwarding his plan to gain control of Japan.


	11. Of terrorists and classmates 2

**Code Geass – Euphemia of the Revelation**

**Of terrorists and classmates 2**

**Disclaimer **– Code Geass is the property of Sunrise, Bandai Entertainment and Ichiro Okouchi, so I don't own anything afflicted with Code Geass.

* * *

**Warnings **– Strong language, strong violence, Euphemia OOC (obviously), yuri, possible lemons in later chapters (unsure)

* * *

At Ashford Academy in the Tokyo Settlement in "Area Eleven" that was once Japan, Euphemia Lamperouge a.k.a. Euphemia li Britannia had led Kallen Stadtfeld in the student council clubhouse and into the main lobby, which had circular tables draped in white cloths in the centre and a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. At the back wall was a staircase that went up till halfway between the floor and the ceiling before splitting off into two different staircase; one going left; the other going right and both leading up to a balcony that went round the length of the room. Needless to say, Kallen was impressed.

"I didn't even know this room existed," she said, looking around in awe.

"It's the clubhouse for the student council," Euphemia explained simply, "They built it as a ballroom for various special occasions."

Kallen could definitely believe that. The place certainly looked as if it was set up for a party.

"And you're sure we won't be disturbed here?" Kallen asked curiously, deciding that it was best to go through with her plan as quickly as possible and then hide the body.

"Yes, that's correct," Euphemia replied.

Kallen was about to make her move, but footsteps stopped her before she could make a single move.

"Here it is," Shirley's voice from the upstairs balcony, causing both Euphemia and Kallen to mentally curse the orangette as they both looked up to see Shirley raising her hand, "I found it, look; this is it, right?"

In her hand between her fingers was a small square computer chip that she was holding up, indicating that she was not alone.

"What a relief, you found our lab data," Nina said as she made an appearance from over the balcony's railing.

"Good, my ass is killing me," Rivalz said as he stood up from crawling around on the floor with a hand on his butt as he walked over to Shirley and Nina.

However, if that wasn't enough, the double doors on the wall opposite where Euphemia and Kallen were standing opened up to reveal Milly standing behind a cart with food lying on the top and wearing a green apron over the front of her uniform.

"Were you able to find it?" she shouted up to the three other student council members as she wheeled the food cart into the room, "I finished up on my end, shall we dig in?"

"Uh, wow," Rivalz exclaimed happily as he leaned over the side of the balcony.

"Way to go Milly," Shirley commented, clasping her hands together in front of her.

Milly just laughed as she started setting out the food on the tables.

"You adore me, I know," she said in self-appreciation.

"Um, what is all of this?" a confused Euphemia asked, not expecting her fellow student council members to be here at this time; not that she was complaining.

After all, it saved her from Kallen for the time being… unless Kallen was impatient and decided to kill all of them for good measure.

"Euphemia, don't you know, I thought that's why you brought her," Milly said as she stopped what she was doing to look over at Euphemia before going back to setting out the food on the tables, "We're inducting Kallen into the student council."

"Say what?" Euphemia asked, completely dumbfounded as she clearly did not expect this outcome.

"Uh…" Kallen said, just as dumbfounded and confused as Euphemia was, clearly not expecting this either.

"It was my grandfather's idea actually," Milly said, ignoring their reaction as she stopped to briefly look over at them both before returning to what she was doing.

"The principal's, why would Ruby-boy do that?" Euphemia asked in confusion.

"He thought it best, with her poor health, she'd have a harder time with regular club activities," Milly replied, not stopping this time, though she did stop once she was done and turned to look directly at Kallen and laugh, "Oh, I'm Milly, the President of the council, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Oh, thank you, the pleasure's all mine," Kallen said, getting into her weak constitution façade and gave Milly a small bow as she decided that killing Euphemia would have to wait.

At that moment, the other three members came down stairs and walked over to Kallen.

"I'm Rivalz, the secretary," Rivalz said as he briefly broke into a run till he was right in front of Kallen and placed his hand over his chest as he introduced himself, "If there's anything you need help with, I'm your man."

"Hi, I'm Shirley and I'm a member of the swim club, welcome," Shirley introduced herself as she used her hand to point at herself.

"Um, hi there… my name's Nina," Nina said rather shyly and quietly with clasped hands down at the front while shaking her body from side to side, making it apparent that she was rather shy.

"Uh, it's… nice to meet all of you," Kallen said, taking aback by the hasty introductions and the revelation that she was now apart of the student council of the school she was so desperate to get away from.

"And this lovely pinkette here is Euphemia, the vice-president," Rivalz said as he held his arm out at Euphemia with a rather perverse smile on his face as Euphemia knew he was thinking about their encounter the previous day in which he misunderstood her interest in Kallen and she shuddered to think what sort of perverted fantasies were rolling through his head.

However, before she could scold him, she heard a familiar motorised humming sound and turned to see Nunnally in her wheelchair moving towards them with a tray of desserts sitting in her lap. One hand was on her wheelchair's armrest and the other was holding onto the tray.

"Shirley, I'm sorry, but do you think you could set these on the table for me?" Nunnally asked kindly.

"Oh sure, thanks Nana," Shirley said as she happily rushed over to Nunnally to take the tray from her.

"Nunnally, what are you doing here?" Euphemia asked, her voice full of concern and worry.

Kallen gasped as she laid eyes on Nunnally. Not only was this girl wheelchair bound, but her eyes were closed as well, indicating that she was blind as well and Kallen could not help but feel really sympathetic towards her. She seemed to give off this air of innocence that could calm even the angriest of people and Kallen was even more sympathetic towards Nunnally at hearing Euphemia's concern over her.

Milly, who was double-checked the food arrangements looked up and shot Kallen a smile.

"This is Euphemia's sister," she said, motioning her head to Nunnally as Shirley took the tray off her lap.

"I'm still in the middle school group, so I can't be on the council yet," Nunnally explained with a bright beautiful smile.

"That's alright, you're an honorary member in our book," Rivalz said contently as he and Nina started to walk towards the tables even as Kallen became rather content herself and even flashed a small smile that was in no way fake.

"Hello there," Nunnally said kindly with a polite nod towards Kallen, "It's a pleasure to meet you Kallen."

"Thank you, you as well," Kallen replied as she tilted her head slightly and gave a genuine smile.

Sure Nunnally was Britannian, Kallen told herself, but she remembered how her brother had told her that he believed that not all Britannians were the cold heartless oppressors everyone thought they were and in the past, Kallen did not believe him, but after seeing Nunnally, she had to admit that Naoto had been right. Nunnally was not cruel, mean or oppressive. Kallen knew that much just by looking at her and she knew that it must be hard for her in Britannian society, as the Britannians hated weakness and Nunnally did look rather helpless; plus there was something about her that made it impossible for Kallen to hate her.

"Well, Nunnally's my half-sister, actually," Euphemia commented, deciding to clear that little misunderstanding up, "We have different mothers, but the same father."

Kallen flinched, noticing the amount of furious hatred and venom hidden in Euphemia's voice as she mentioned the word, father; something that the others apparently missed.

However, before she could think, Rivalz took a bottle of champagne and placed it on one of the tables.

"Right, shall we kick this off with a toast?" he said rather boastfully, causing Euphemia to roll her eyes.

"Huh, champagne?" Shirley said, noticing the label on the bottle.

"Yeah, but we're on the student council, we shouldn't," Nina said, somewhat fearfully; fearful of the consequences if they were caught.

"Uh, come on, loosen up you guys," Rivalz said as he attempted to pop the bottle's cork with his thumb as he held the bottle out in front of him with a rather smug and boastfully excited smile on his face.

"No way, we're gonna get in trouble," Shirley said angrily as she tried to grab the bottle as Nina closed her eyes and put her hands over her head.

"Uh, what's going on?" Nunnally asked, seeing as she could not see and Milly walked over to her and handed her a glass of orange juice.

"Here, Nunnally," she said kindly in a gentle tone as she bent over and guided Nunnally's hand to the glass.

As for Rivalz, he managed to evade Shirley's lunges by spinning round and Shirley followed his movements. However, he knew that if he did not think of something, Shirley would eventually claim the bottle from him. He then glanced over at Euphemia.

"Euphemia, heads up!" he called as he threw the bottle over to Euphemia, who reached out to grab it with a rather surprised look on her face, unsure exactly what was going on.

However, before she had a chance to think, Shirley pushed Rivalz's head downwards and came charging towards her with a rather angry look on her face as she made for the bottle.

"You're not getting away with this either Euphie," she said as she tried to grab the bottle, which Euphemia reflexively tried to keep away from her despite the confused look still on her face.

"H-hey," Euphemia said just as Shirley slipped and fell towards her, bringing them both to the ground. However, the bottle was still held high and all the movement suddenly caused the cork to shoot right out of the bottle and towards Kallen, who instinctively slapped it away, briefly dropping her façade.

The slap was so quick that no one actually saw it, but before Kallen could calm down, the contents of the bottle followed the cork and shot out, coming down on the top of her head. Nina stood with her hands over her mouth with a horrified look on her face where as Rivalz and Milly just had dumbfounded looks on their faces.

"Um, what just happened?" Nunnally asked, only to be met with silence as the champagne from the bottle sprayed down from the top of Kallen's head and down her front, soaking her uniform.

"Um, Shirley, can you get off me now?" Euphemia said, unable to believe what just happened.

"Uh, oh," Shirley said, realising that she was on top of Euphemia and immediately stood up and backed away with her face as red as a tomato as she placed her hands over her cheeks.

"Oh my, I was… Euphie…" she thought as she shook her head.

Kallen just stared at Shirley, unable what to make of it all.

* * *

Later at the clubhouse's utility room, Shirley placed all of Kallen's soaked clothes into the washing machine by the door and Milly sat nearby on a stool, waiting for the machine to finish.

"Do we have clothes for her?" Milly asked Shirley, clearly not too pleased that the newest member of the council had just been sprayed with champagne.

What a disastrous first impression, she figured. Kallen had a weak constitution, which was why her grandfather had suggested that she be on the student council in the first place and no doubt, she'll think of them all as a bunch of idiots that enjoyed horsing around and did not take their work seriously.

"Sayoko's on it," Shirley said with a sigh, also not too pleased at how things had gone; especially since she had been partly responsible for it.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the clubhouse's bathroom, Kallen stood in the shower, cursing her luck as she washed herself down.

"This is why I hate Britannians," she thought, facing the shower and looking upwards with her eyes closed.

What a disaster, she figured. She had finally gotten that girl, Euphemia alone and was about to act, but then her friends had to come along and stop her and to make matters worse, she had been inducted into the student council at the suggestion of the school's principal. She started to wonder if perhaps her façade had worked a bit too well. She absolutely detested this place and wanted nothing to do with the student council. The only positive was that she had met Nunnally, whom she could honestly say she could not hate in the slightest. She did not know what it was, but Nunnally seemed to be surrounded by an air of innocence and kindness that was impossible for her to resist. She knew that Nunnally was a kind and caring individual and somehow she knew that Nunnally did not see the Japanese like many other Britannians did. She did not know why she knew that, she just did.

Anyway, a knock at the door brought her back to reality as she looked towards the door as she opened the shower curtain.

"It's Euphemia," the familiar voice of the pinkette came from the other side, "I brought you a change of clothes."

"You can come in," Kallen said as she removed her hand from the curtain, letting it fall back into place and block the view of her body from the outside, "I've drawn the curtain already."

Euphemia walked into the bathroom with a change of clothes for Kallen on the tops of the palms of her hands and she momentarily stopped at seeing Kallen's silhouette against the shower curtain.

"Eh, sorry about all this," she said, repressing the urge to whistle as she shook her head, "I know they can be a little over the top."

She then walked in.

"That's okay," Kallen replied from behind the curtain in a dismissive tone, "Nothing wrong with cutting loose every once in a while you know."

However, she was currently envisioning herself running both Rivalz and Shirley over repeatedly with her father's limousine and then turning it on her furious stepmother for making her life a living hell.

"These are some of my clothes," Euphemia said as she placed the clothes in a rectangular straw basket lying on a stood at the side of the sink, "I hope that's okay."

"It's cool, don't worry about it" Kallen said from behind the curtain as she continued to wash herself down, "That was fast; you went all the way to the girls' dorm?"

"Actually, I live here," Euphemia replied, much to Kallen surprise as Euphemia leaned on the sink with her butt, "It'd be hard for my sister to live off in the dorms. The principal of the school lets us stay here as a favour. His family were good friends of Nunnally's mother before she died."

"I see," Kallen said with genuine sympathy in her voice, remembering Nunnally and that beautiful smile she had when she introduced herself and hear that her mother was dead… it just saddened her.

"Anyway," Euphemia said as she started to make her way to the door.

"Hey wait!" Kallen called out, deciding that now would be the best time to confront Euphemia now that she was alone.

Euphemia stopped and turned back round to face the shower curtain as Kallen moved her hand out of the end and motioned it towards the sink.

"Can you hand me that punch over there?" she asked somewhat kindly.

"Sure," Euphemia said as she walked over to the sink and grabbed the pouch in question, knowing full well that Kallen was now going to make her move.

However, that did not phase her one bit as she had already planned on how to deal with it. Boy was Kallen in for a surprise in a few minutes? Euphemia smirked as she thought about it.

"Now C.C., it's all up to you so don't let me down," she thought as she pressed her hand against the pouch and felt the outline of a knife blade hidden inside.

As she walked over to the bathtub and reached her hand inside through the gap in the curtain to hand the pouch to Kallen. Kallen's hand suddenly slapped down on her wrist, causing her to drop the pouch and then Kallen's fingers wrapped round her wrist in a tight grip and Euphemia feigned shocked surprise, though she knew if anything went wrong here or if Kallen was smarter than she predicted and saw through her plan, she could not fight out of her iron grip.

"Are you really that sick or are you just feigning sickness because you're secretly a prostitute who sells her body off to some perverted rich guy?" she said in a rather calm tone, "Because you seem too strong to be sick to me."

"Were you the one in Shinjuku?" Kallen asked, dropping her façade as she ignored Euphemia's rather perverse statement, though inwardly, she was fuming at such a suggestion, but it was better than what she was really doing she figured.

"What do you mean?" Euphemia asked in fake curiosity

"Don't play dumb!" Kallen stated in a tone that indicated that she was in no mood to be messed with, "You brought up Shinjuku the other day, why?"

Her original plan had been to just kill Euphemia; no questions asked and then hide the body in some ditch somewhere. However, upon meeting Nunnally and being taken in with her kind and innocent nature, she just did not have the heart to kill her half-sister and rob her of a loved one. She knew, just by hearing the concern in Euphemia's tone when she spoke when Nunnally first appeared that they were both rather close. The thought of that beautiful smile being replaced with an expression of sorrow and grief was unthinkable to her. She just could not imagine Nunnally crying and knowing that she would be responsible if she took Euphemia's life… it was just unbearable, so she decided to just give Euphemia a chance to explain herself and hoped that she was wrong since if it turned out she was right, she felt that she would have no choice but to kill Euphemia in order to protect her true identity.

"Why do you ask?" Euphemia shot back with a hint of fake suspicion in her voice, hoping to buy some time and to get Kallen to stop in case she decided to just do the deed anyway regardless, "Is that something wrong with Shinjuku?"

"Don't answer my question with a question!" Kallen stated seriously as she slowly reached down with her free hand and took up the pouch while still having her other hand tightly wrapped round Euphemia's wrist, "Yes or no, that's all I want to hear out of you."

She then opened up the end of the pouch and the knife blade flicked out and Kallen held it dangerously close to Euphemia's wrist.

"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about," she said as she eyed the knife through the gap in the curtain nervously, "You've obviously got the wrong person for whatever it is."

Before Kallen could reply, the phone, which was situated on the wall between the sink and the bathtub started to ring, causing her eyes to widen.

"Damn," she grumbled, gritting her teeth and tightening her grip on Euphemia's wrist even further.

Just who the hell could that be and why did they have to call now of all times? She was in a rather awkward position right now and if someone came in, her cover would no doubt be blown and then she'd be in a heap of trouble. Oh well, if someone did come along, she'd just have to kill them as well.

"If I don't answer it, someone'll come," Euphemia stated as she calmed down and resisted the urge to breathe a sigh of relief, "That okay?"

Kallen's grip did not lesson as Euphemia reached out to the phone with her free arm and literally snatched it off the hook.

"Hello, Ashford Academy Student Council," she said as Kallen glared at her and inched the knife ever closer to her wrist in case she tried anything, "No, this is… I don't know anyone called Q1."

Kallen gasped as Euphemia's statement, remembering that Q1 had been the codename that the mysterious woman had assigned her during the Shinjuku massacre.

"Oh… I see," Euphemia said with a nod as she reached the phone through the gap in the curtain, "It's for you. She says she knows you."

Kallen stared at the phone hook with a surprised look on her face, remaining still and silent for a good few seconds, before sighing to herself as her expression became rather serious. She looked down to the side and slowly placed the pouch down on the side of the bathtub and then took the phone from Euphemia, though she did not let her wrist go and stared at the hook for a brief second before placing it up to her ear.

"Hello," she said rather hesitantly.

"Glad you're still alive Q1," the familiar voice of the mysterious woman who had helped her and her resistance group in Shinjuku came, causing her eyes to widen in surprise and shock.

She then looked towards where she was holding Euphemia's wrist, wondering if perhaps it was some kind of trick as their voices did sound kind of similar.

"Was I wrong?" she asked herself as she peered out through the gap in the curtain only to see Euphemia standing calmly looking off to the wall opposite the sink with a calm and collected look on her face.

"Sixteen hundred hours, the day after tomorrow; the observation deck at Tokyo Tower," the voice said in a strangely eerie tone, "Come alone. Oh, and by the way, what are you planning on doing to that girl you're holding onto? I hope you're not planning anything naughty now."

"Who are you?" Kallen demanded furiously, "And how did you arrange that cease fire order and how do you know about what I'm doing?"

However, her only response with the sound of the person at the other end hanging up before the line moved to an engaged tone.

"Hey, don't hang up!" Kallen shouted as spun round. However, her movement caused the cord of the phone to move the curtain back, revealing her naked body for all to see.

She growled in frustration, not aware that her body was exposed to anyone who may just happen to walk in.

"Did you say ceasefire?" Euphemia asked with suspicion very evident in her voice as she decided to give Kallen a little scare as revenge for almost slitting her wrist, "Sounds like you keep dangerous company."

Kallen's eyes widened as she realised that Euphemia was still there and she desperately searched through her brain; trying to think of an excuse to get the pinkette off her back.

"Oh, um… that was…" she said before trailing off as she realised that she could not think of anything else to say.

"Let me guess," Euphemia said in a surprisingly dismissive tone as she looked off towards the door and smirked, "You're talkin' 'bout a game; something online?"

"Uh, yeah… you got me," Kallen replied, calming down as she decided to play along, thankful for this girl's false deduction and finally released her wrist, "Cause, you know… I've been shut up in my house so long."

"That's what I was warning you about, when I told you not to bring up Shinjuku before," Euphemia stated rather calmly as she massaged her recently released wrist, which was a bit sore from Kallen's vice-like grip, "Seriously, some people'll try to show you footage of what happen that day and it's pretty damn grim… By the way, you realise that I can see you right?"

Kallen's eyes widened yet again as she stared at Euphemia and then upon noticing that the curtain had been moved back, she looked down at her body from behind.

However, if things could not get any worse, at that moment, the door opened and Shirley came walking in.

"Hey Kallen, I just wanted to say…" she started to say before she trailed off upon noticing the scene in front of her.

Euphemia was standing next to the bathtub and Kallen was still in the shower and the curtain was drawn back, giving her a clear view of Kallen's body.

Euphemia groaned, knowing that Shirley would not doubt take it the wrong way as she knew just how often Shirley jumped to the wrong conclusions.

"This isn't what it looks like," she growled in frustration, "I was just handing her the phone. Someone called looking for her."

However, Shirley was not listening. Her mind had gone into total shock, leaving her frozen on the spot with a rather shocked look on her face; a look that Euphemia knew all too well as she had seen similar looks on the faces of the nobles she beat at chess whenever she won.

"Come on Shirley, I told you that it's not what it looks like," Euphemia said, growling furiously at the orangette's stupidity, "She just had an argument with someone over the phone. What did you think; that I was going to get in with her?"

Upon hearing that, Shirley's eyes glazed over as she fell backwards, fainting.

Kallen then immediately pulled the curtain over the bathtub and bent down, covering her breasts with her arms and clenched her eyes shut; unaware that she was still holding the phone.

"Um, I won't tell anyone, I promise," Euphemia called back to her as Kallen heard Euphemia drag Shirley's unconscious body out of the room, "And don't worry about her, when she wakes up, I'm sure she'll delude herself into believing that it was all just a horrible nightmare."

"Thanks," Kallen shouted back, feeling awfully embarrassed; not just at accidentally exposing herself, but also embarrassed that Shirley had misunderstood the situation completely and did not listen even as Euphemia tried to set things straight with her.

Just what was with that girl anyway? Was she a lesbian or something? Kallen shook her head, unsure what to make of it. She was clearly obsessed over Euphemia, that much was true, but just how far did that obsession go?

"Why am I even thinking about that?" she thought as she shook her head with a determined look on her face, "Why should I even care? It's not my concern."

She then remembered the voice, taking her mind off Shirley and her strange obsession.

"I was wrong," she said aloud, feeling somewhat guilty that she had almost killed an innocent girl. Britannian or not… she figured that it was Nunnally having an unknowing affect on her and the fact that Euphemia was her half-sister.

She was definitely relieved that she would not have to rob Nunnally of her half-sister's life and yet, at the same time, she was disappointed that she had figured wrong; something that she was not accustomed to since she was rather smart and was usually right in her deductions. However, there was nothing that could be done about it now. She was rather thankful for Euphemia's untrue deduction and oblivious nature as she had briefly believed that she may have had to do away with her after all if she became too suspicious. However, thankfully she was not, though Kallen was still mad about her accusation of her being a prostitute, but just waved it off as Euphemia just messing with her as a joke.

* * *

Meanwhile, upstairs in Euphemia's room, C.C. pushed a button on a voice recorder.

"Glad you're still alive Q1," Euphemia's voice came from the device in the same manner Euphemia had spoken during the Shinjuku crisis before C.C. shut it off.

"Okay Euphemia, I've done what you wanted me to do," she said to no one in particular, "Now then, you can do something for me."

Perhaps she could get Euphemia's help without having to reveal anything after all. Euphemia had approached her looking for help and so, C.C. figured that she could use that to get Euphemia to help her without telling her what she wanted to know. After all, Euphemia owed her now.

However, since Euphemia's life was in danger, C.C. knew that she had no choice but to help. Her mission was to ensure Euphemia's survival and she intended on following through with that mission. This Kallen had become rather insecure since Euphemia had made that blunder with her Geass and C.C. knew that had she not agreed, Euphemia would probably have ended up dead. Her solution to the problem had been to just kill Kallen and that would be that. However, Euphemia had refused to go along with that idea. It was clear that Euphemia had plans for Kallen; Kallen and the rest of her resistance group in fact. Anyway, she knew that Euphemia would not have wanted Kallen dead either way and C.C. had to admit that her plan to get her off her back was rather thought-out and convincing. She knew that if she had been in Kallen's shoes, she would undoubtably be fooled by that recording.

"Now then Euphemia, just what do you intend to do with these people?" she asked no one in particular.

* * *

Later, after Euphemia had left Shirley's unconscious form sitting on a chair in the main lobby, after telling everyone else about that little misunderstanding, she had returned to Kallen in the bathroom and was now currently walking with her down a corridor. Euphemia's outfit that she had left for Kallen consisted of a long ankle-length orange skirt and a green and white top with the green portion situated round her torso like a corset and the white portion starting just below the chest area and down the sleeves (effectively, the same outfit Euphemia wore when she first met Suzaku) and surprisingly, it hid Kallen's cleavage well despite her big bust size.

"The council doesn't much actual work, I guess," Euphemia explained as she lectured Kallen about the student council's role, "Beyond the occasional paperwork, we'll sometimes plan school events."

"So you mean like the Culture Festival?" Kallen asked with genuine curiosity, deciding to make the most of her situation.

"Yep, like that," Euphemia confirmed simply, "Along with the Cross-dresser's Ball, the Absolute Silence Party and Swimsuit Day."

"What up with that?" Kallen asked, wondering if the school was really an insane asylum with all those ridiculous events.

"Blame our President," Euphemia laughed nervously, "Just don't mention the word's "birthday suit" to her, otherwise she may just have a Birthday Suit Day; she's definitely crazy enough to try it."

Kallen just nodded slowly, wondering if Milly Ashford had a few screws lose in her head.

"You'll be spending a lot of time with her," Euphemia went on as both she and Kallen turned to their right and walked back into the main lobby where they heard a news report on a TV, "Hope you're ready."

"Euphie, it's awful," Nunnally's voice came, sounding rather distressed as Euphemia turned to face her.

"What is?" she asked in concern, worried about Nunnally as she hated to see her half-sister in distress.

"Prince Clovis was injured and the Imperial Consort, Rochelle li Britannia has been found dead," Milly said, equally distressed as she and the other student council members; Shirley included stood round a TV that was showing an image of the Government Bureau in the centre of the Tokyo Settlement.

"They're saying she was killed," Rivalz spoke up, turning to look at her.

Euphemia and Kallen both gasped; Euphemia feigning surprise as she had been the one who caused it and Kallen for different reasons entirely.

"Clovis is still alive," she thought in disbelief, "Why would she spare him?"

The image on the TV changed to one showing Jeremiah Gottwald standing behind a podium with a line of men standing behind him; all wearing black boots and blue business suits with a red feather attached on the left side at a diagonal angle moving upwards to the left, identifying them as members of the Purist Faction. Villetta stood off to Jeremiah's right in front of the line of Purists draped in a black cape with the Purists' insignia on the back and at the bottom of the screen in white lettering were the words, "Press conference with Margrave Jeremiah from the State Broadcast Room".

"Lady Rochelle has been taking from us and Prince Clovis has been left seriously injured," Jeremiah said in an outraged tone, "They both fought for peace and justice against all the Elevens. Lady Rochelle died a martyr and Prince Clovis was equally a martyr."

* * *

Meanwhile at the hideout of Ohgi's resistance group, Ohgi and the others were gathered round a smaller TV as they were also watching the broadcast.

"We must all bury our sorrow and carry on their will," Jeremiah concluded as Ohgi sat with his hand over his lower face as he was in deep thought, wondering what to make of it all.

"We interrupt this broadcast with breaking news," a woman's voice came on the TV as Ohgi sighed in frustration.

* * *

Back at Ashford Academy, the student council members all looked on in anticipation and wonder as they also heard the woman's voice, though Euphemia glared dangerously at the screen or more specifically, at the Purists with pure hatred and venom in her eyes; something that did not go unnoticed by Kallen.

"Purist filth," Euphemia grumbled, unaware that Kallen overheard.

"The man suspected as the murderer has been captured," the woman went on as the image on the TV froze and then zoomed out to the left and revealed a blonde-haired woman sitting in a newsroom.

The screen showing the Purists was still visible behind her to the left. However, there was another screen to the right that had been showing a picture of Rochelle was now showing soldiers escorting someone in a prisoner's outfit as an audience looked on from behind a guard rail.

"According to this report," the woman went on as the screen to the right zoomed in and over the newsroom image, "The suspect is an Honorary Britannian."

"What the?" Euphemia gasped in shock as she recognised the prisoner as the word "LIVE" appeared at the top right hand corner of the screen in white lettering and the bottom displayed the words, "Honorary Britannian under arrest", also in white lettering

"Private Suzaku Kururugi; a former Eleven and Honorary Britannian," the woman went on as the text at the bottom of the screen changed and displayed the words, "Private Suzaku Kururugi: Former Eleven", "I repeat, Suzaku Kururugi arrested for murder."

Euphemia flinched as she saw Suzaku shouting out a protest, only to be slapped on the side of the cheek by one of the soldiers escorting him before residing himself to his current situation. She just could not believe it. Se had thought that Suzaku was dead. She had seen him shot in the back after he refused to carry out the Royal Guard General's orders to kill her after they both had first discovered C.C. in that capsule. To learn that he was alive was much of a relief to Euphemia, but to learn that he was the scapegoat for her mother's murder… it was shocking.

She suspected that the whole cover up immediately afterwards was to give the authorities time to search for a scapegoat. She suspected that they'd scapegoat someone in order to placate the peoples' anger and fury since she knew how popular both Clovis and Rochelle had been among the Britannian populace of "Area Eleven". However, she did not expect the poor unfortunate soul that ended up taking the fall to be Suzaku. It was clearly a plan by the Purists in an attempt to seize power for themselves and with an Honorary Britannian as their scapegoat, they'd have the excuse they needed to have the system abolished and that was a disturbing concept.

She knew that she could not let Suzaku take the fall. He was her first true friend outside her family. She may not agree with him having become a Britannian soldier, but he was still her friend. His refusal to kill her in the face of his superiors touched her greatly. It had been rather brave and stupid, but it was nice to know that he still cared for her. Now he was the Purist's ticket to abolishing the Honorary Britannian system and Euphemia was determined that she would not let that stand. Remembering what she had told Kallen in her recorded message, she saw a way to kill; not two, but three birds with the one stone. She'd gain the help she needed to bring down Britannia, rescue Suzaku and most importantly; she'd engineer the downfall of the Purist Faction and completely ruin them beyond repair.

Clovis was still recuperating hospital, which meant that he was unable to testify in Suzaku's favour; not that Euphemia expected that he would. After all, she knew that Clovis would probably go along with it since he did not know about Suzaku's friendship with her and would believe that he was protecting Euphemia and there was the possibility that if he did speak to clear Suzaku's name, it would no doubt cast suspicion on him… with some of the vultures within the media using it as a great opportunity to ruin his reputation in order to sell a good story; so Clovis was a dead end. The Purists were probably counting on the fact that he would not recuperate in time to clear Suzaku's name anyway.

"Guess I'm going to have to take matters into my own hands," she thought bitterly as she remembered that she still had her mother's necklace, which she had pinched after she killed her, "I just knew that I'd need that in future. Now all I have to do is come up with a plan to save Suzaku before his execution."

Unbeknownst to Euphemia, Kallen stared at her with an astonished look on her face; astonished at the expressions on Euphemia's face when she saw the images on TV; especially the hate-filled venomous glare she had given the Purists. It seemed that her brother's view that not all Britannians were the same was true after all. If Euphemia's reaction was anything to go by, she hated her own people's beliefs just as much as the Japanese did; maybe even more so; but then again, it may just be an affect of having Nunnally for a half-sister and perhaps Nunnally had rubbed off on her and Kallen had to admit that perhaps Nunnally was starting to rub off on her as well despite only having just met her. It was the first step on a steep hill to overcome her hatred of all Britannians.

"Maybe I should give the student council a chance," she thought with a smile, "They all seem like nice people and besides, if what Euphemia told me is true; then it could prove beneficial for my cover."

That much was true. As a member of the student council, she had access to areas that most students did not with only the staff having higher clearance and it would prove easier to get on and off of campus in the unlikely event of an emergency or if her cover was in danger of being exposed.

* * *

At the Government Bureau, Jeremiah smirked as the press conference came to an end and he walked out the door with Villetta in tow.

"You were magnificent Margrave Jeremiah," Villetta commented as she looked at her superior with a smirk, "I think that you may have succeeded in gaining favour with even the smartest of individuals."

"Naturally," Jeremiah replied with a smirk, "Both Prince Clovis and Lady Rochelle were well loved here. In their anger at learning of what happened to them, the people won't care about who did it. They'll just feel happier knowing that we punished someone and won't think twice about it."

"I must ask though, why Suzaku Kururugi?" Villetta asked, giving the Margrave a curious stare.

"As the son of the last Prime Minister of this place before it became Area Eleven, it would give him a clear motive and only serve to convince those ignorant masses even further that he's the culprit," Jeremiah replied with a look of triumph on his face, "And when this is all over, His Majesty will have no choice but to abolish the Viceroy system and then Area Eleven will be under our control."

"Are you sure that the Emperor will agree to that?" Villetta asked with a hint of doubt and fear in her voice, "Knowing His Majesty, he may just decide to send Princess Cornelia here anyway."

Jeremiah's triumphant grin only widened as he had anticipated Villetta's response and considered that possibility.

"Worry not Villetta," he stated in a sinisterly triumphant tone, "Our faction's quite popular here and by bringing this whole thing to a swift conclusion, our popularity will only be sure to grow, giving His Majesty no choice but to bow to our proposals or fear rebellion from his own people and he can't afford that now, can he?"

Villetta only nodded, though she still looked as if she was unsure. She did not know why, but she had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that something was going to happen; something that would change everything and things would never be the same again. However, she knew better than to express her concerns. Jeremiah was rather stubborn and difficult to reason with once he made up his mind. From the way he was going about this, it was clear that he believed that he had already won. However, Villetta knew that there were still things that could go wrong. However, telling Jeremiah this would be pointless as she knew that he would refuse to listen.

* * *

Meanwhile, Clovis sat in his hospital bed after just watching the news report and needless to say, he was absolutely disgusted. That boy was clearly a scapegoat for the Purists in their self-appointed mission to destroy the Honorary Britannian system. He knew Suzaku Kururugi was innocent since he knew that it was Euphemia that had killed Rochelle and put him in the hospital. However, it seemed that now the Purists were trying to turn the situation to their advantage. He knew that Jeremiah Gottwald did not care about him or Rochelle in the slightest and that pretty much infuriated him. All Jeremiah wanted was to seize power for himself and no doubt implement what Rochelle had been planning on implementing; anti-"Number" legislation with the hopes of provoking a rebellion among the Japanese populace, though unlike Rochelle who was looking to exterminate them all, Jeremiah was hoping to use the rebellion to install fear within the Japanese. Have a minority rebel and crush them quickly and the majority would no doubt become fearful and easier to control.

"Idiot," Clovis mused to himself, "That'll eventually lead to him getting more than he bargained for and no doubt he'll take the Britannian populace with him when he goes."

That much was true. All it would take was for someone to rally all the resistance groups into one big army and then they'd all be in trouble. The people may lose their fear and decide to go up against the Britannians anyway. He read about how people who had nothing to lose were extremely dangerous, seeing as how the majority of them did not fear death and no doubt saw it more of a liberation than a hindrance. He cursed himself for his weakness, since it had led to Rochelle instigating the Shinjuku massacre, which in turn led him to being shot and confined to a hospital bed. He wanted to stop Jeremiah, but knew that he could not in his current condition. He would not recover fast enough to save that poor boy and that annoyed him.

"Jeremiah, you blind fool," he cursed furiously, "You're going to doom the population with this outrageous plan of yours."

He wanted nothing more than to stand up for Suzaku and testify his innocence. He knew that he could do it without revealing Euphemia's identity. He had promised her that he would keep her identity a secret. He could claim that he only saw the culprit's silhouette and it did not match Suzaku. He knew the media would try to ruin his reputation, but his reign as Viceroy was already over, so like many of the Japanese, he had nothing to lose; aside from his claim to the throne and inheritance, but he no longer cared for that. Seeing what his little half-sister had become and knowing that their father had been the catalyst for driving her down that path, he could honestly say that he wanted nothing to do with him; plus if what Euphemia speculation about Lady Marianne's assassination rang true, he wanted to be as far away from that man as possible. In any case, he just gave a helpless sigh, hoping that some miracle would happen that would save Suzaku Kururugi from his fate.

* * *

Meanwhile, on a plane en route to "Area Eleven", Eleanor el Britannia sat holding a glass of wine in her right hand, spinning the cup round in circles, causing the wine to swirl.

"Well now, seems things have just got interesting," she said, turning off the TV after it showed the news report from "Area Eleven", "The Purists scapegoat an Honorary Britannian with Rochelle's death and Clovis's injuries. Just what will you do now Euphemia?"

She found the whole situation rather amusing; not that she had expected it to go any other way. In truth, she had anticipated the Purists' move. They were always looking for ways to expand their power and abolish the Honorary Britannian system, so it was hardly surprising. No doubt, they were hoping to put the Emperor in a position where he'd have no choice but to bow to their demands. Of course, being an Imperial Consort, Eleanor knew that her husband did not care for the people in the slightest. He was more interested in furthering his own ambitions than looking after his subjects. He hid it well, Eleanor would give him that, but she knew that Charles zi Britannia was not a man anyone wanted to mess with. The Purists… unfortunately would no doubt find that out the hard way if their plan succeeded.

"I almost feel sorry for them… almost," she mused sinisterly with a rather cruel smile before turning to Rolo, who was reading a book, "Wouldn't you agree Rolo?"

"Uh, I'm sorry Miss Goodwin, I was reading and didn't hear you," Rolo said in an apologetic tone.

"I was saying that I almost feel sorry for the Purist Faction for their plan, as it's doomed to failure," Eleanor replied, waving Rolo's apology off, "Apparently, they've stitched up some Honorary Britannian to take the fall for Rochelle's murder and Clovis's injuries and are planning on using the whole thing to further their own power. Unfortunately for them, Charles will not bow to their demands, no matter how great their popularity is. No doubt, he'd resort to oppressing the Britannians of Area Eleven just to shut them up."

"Yes, I do have to admit that seeing how you put it that way, I also feel sorry for them," Rolo replied with a nod, "But wasn't it our target, Euphemia who murdered Lady Rochelle and injured Prince Clovis?"

"Yes, it was; however, the Purist Faction doesn't care about that," Eleanor confirmed with a nod and affectionate smile, "As far as they are concerned, Euphemia li Britannia died seven years ago in the war and this is a tremendous opportunity for them to obliterate the Honorary Britannian system once and for all. It's been a self-appointed mission of theirs for a long time now."

"I see," Rolo said with an understanding nod.

"Speaking of Euphemia, with this situation, it seems that she may get her plans underway before we have a chance to get things ready to observe her," Eleanor deducted with a hint of disappointment in her voice, though it was a setback, it was nothing major, "Still, it shouldn't affect our plans in the slightest. We'll just have to improvise. Rolo, you'll still enrol at Ashford Academy to keep an eye on her. That has not changed."

"Understood," Rolo said with resolution on his face.

Eleanor just gave her a heart-warming smile.

"Ah Rolo, your ability to easily fool everyone around about you astounds even me," she commented softly, "When the order to eliminate Euphemia finally does come through, she won't know what hit her. She's daughter of that disgusting hussy, Rochelle, but she did kill her and, which has done me and a lot of the other Imperial Consorts a huge favour, so I owe her that I guess. Be sure to make her death as painless as possible and make it look like an accident."

"I understand Miss Goodwin," Rolo said with a nod.

"However, until that order comes through, just observe her and report back to me," Eleanor said in a serious tone, "Master V.V. will take it from there."

"Understood; with the power of my Geass, Euphemia will be dead without her being aware of it," the young assassin replied seriously with a determined look on his face.

"I knew it was a good idea inducting you into the OSI," the Imperial Consort said with a smirk, "You're our best assassin, so don't let us down."

Rolo only responded with a serious nod and Eleanor smirked. She could hardly wait to get started with Euphemia.

* * *

**Author's Notes **– That's another one done. Gosh, I believe I'm just about up to 100,000+ mark as far as overall words for the entire fic goes. Well, it's doubtful that I've reached that mark yet, but if not this chapter, then definitely next chapter or the one after that. Anyway, things are moving along quite nicely. Kallen met Nunnally and noticed Euphemia's reaction to the TV report and now is starting to become open-minded about Britannians, though she has a long way to go before she's a hundred percent over her hatred for Britannians as a whole. The whole scene with Shirley walking in on Kallen and Euphemia during the bathroom scene was just added for humour and as Euphemia figured, Shirley will have just fooled herself into believing that it was all just a dream (I know two other authors who took that approach in their fics). Anyway, next chapter, Euphemia will be getting things ready for her alter-ego's big debut. I've already decided on a name, but you'll have to wait until I reveal it to find out what it is.


	12. Preparations for rescue

**Code Geass – Euphemia of the Revelation**

**Preparations for rescue**

**Disclaimer **– Code Geass is the property of Sunrise, Bandai Entertainment and Ichiro Okouchi, so I don't own anything afflicted with Code Geass.

* * *

**Warnings **– Strong language, strong violence, Euphemia OOC (obviously), yuri, possible lemons in later chapters (unsure)

* * *

Suzaku Kururugi sat in a rather dark room on a wooden chair in a prisoner's restraint suit, which was pretty much like a straight jacket. In front of him was a wooden table with a gun sitting on top in an evidence bag with a label attached at the back and another label attached beneath the trigger. Sitting opposite him was Jeremiah Gottwald and standing to either side of Suzaku was a member of the Purist Faction. From the look on Suzaku's face, he seemed rather resided to his fate and it appeared as if he had been beaten as well.

"Do you know anything about this weapon, Suzaku Kururugi?" Jeremiah asked in a serious professional tone as he interrogated the young man, "It was the one used to injure Prince Clovis and rob Lady Rochelle of her life. The barrel striations leave no doubt and we've done a little homework on you aw well. You're the eldest child of Japan's last acting Prime Minister, are you not? Your motive here is clear."

"You're making a mistake," Suzaku protested with a hard look in his eye that would told anyone that he was telling the truth, "I have never even laid eyes on that gun."

The guard to his right responded by kicking the chair out from under him, causing him to fall to the floor, landing on his side rather hard.

"We found your fingerprints all over this weapon," Jeremiah went on, ignoring Suzaku's protest as he held up the bag containing the gun for Suzaku to see from his position on the floor, "You're also suspected of murdering members of the Royal Guard. Come clean now and you'll be judged as though you were born a Britannian; not some worthless Eleven."

Of course that was a lie. The gun used to kill Rochelle had not been recovered. Instead, Jeremiah had used a spare gun in one of the armouries and had it done up to make it look as if it had been used. Everything was a lie, but Suzaku did not know that. No one would question it anyway and if they did; well Jeremiah already had measures in place to… silence them.

"You're wrong," Suzaku said sincerely as he lifted his head to look Jeremiah right in the eye, "I've done nothing."

The only response was for one of the guard; the same guard who had forced him to the floor to stomp down on his head with the bottom of his boot, causing his head to bounce off the floor before he fell into unconsciousness.

Jeremiah, whose expression remained stoic and devoid of emotion throughout the whole affair finally let out a smirk.

"How stupid can you get?" he said in a boastful tone, "Too stupid to realise that no one gives a damn whether you're guilty or not. You're just the unfortunate soul that was chosen as a sacrifice. Those foolish people are ignorant. They don't care who does what. They'll just feel better so long as someone; regardless of whether they're guilty or innocent is punished and they don't give a damn who it is."

He honestly could not believe how gullible and inflexible Suzaku was. If it had have been anyone else, he was sure that they would have caught on by now. Heck, even a child could figure it out if they thought hard enough. The only problem was Suzaku as a scapegoat was that he had a perfectly valid airtight alibi in those in the Special Corp who had been there, but they were easy to force to keep quiet. All Jeremiah had to do was issue death threats to them and carry them out if need be in order to ensure that his scripted show would not be compromised.

* * *

Meanwhile at Ashford Academy, Euphemia had changed Nunnally into her nightgown and was putting her to bed.

"That was Suzaku they mentioned on the news, wasn't it?" Nunnally asked as she felt Euphemia lift her up from her wheelchair and place her on the bed.

"Yep, it looks like he's still alive," Euphemia replied in a soft comforting tone as she manoeuvred Nunnally from her sitting position into a lying position along the length of the bed.

"Yeah, it's been ages," Nunnally said; her voice full of concern as she worried about her old friend, "We haven't seen him since the war ended, haven't we?"

Euphemia continued about her work, pulling the covers over Nunnally's body. However, Nunnally had a frown on her face and was not smiling.

"And Euphie," she went on, not attempting to hide her feelings, "It wasn't true what the news said was it?"

"Of course not," Euphemia said truthfully, knowing that she was the real culprit, "Suzaku would never do anything like that. They just made a mistake. Clovis is still alive though. I'm sure once he's better, he'll clear everything up and Suzaku will be released."

"Yeah," Nunnally said with a sigh as she took her half-sister's hand in hers, "It must be."

"Right," Euphemia said in agreement, knowing that that last part was lie and cursed herself for breaking Nunnally's pinkie-promise, "Well… good night Nunnally."

She hated lying to Nunnally, but it was the only way to ensure that she did not worry. She hated seeing Nunnally depressed. It was just so sad. Nunnally depressed was not something she wanted to see. She was a kind and sweet girl that was always happy and full of life and seeing her like this made Euphemia want to cry; especially since she knew that it was because of her that Suzaku had been arrested as the Purists Faction's scapegoat and Suzaku's arrest had made Nunnally depressed. Clovis would not recover in time to save Suzaku. By the time he did recover to the point where he could save Suzaku, Suzaku would be long dead and Euphemia did not think Clovis would save Suzaku anyhow, since he probably believed that in doing so, he would have to reveal her secret, which he promised he would not.

"I'm sorry Nunnally," she thought, looking down at the prone form of her half-sister, whom she was sure was already asleep, but with her eyes permanently closed, she could not be sure, "I'll make this right somehow, I swear it."

"I'm sorry Euphie," Nunnally said quietly, indicating that she was still awake, "I know how bad Lady Rochelle was… but still, she was your mother."

Euphemia winced at this. That much was true. Rochelle was still her mother, no matter how evil she had been. That was the most unsettling thought in Euphemia's mind at the moment and the more she thought about it, the angrier she became. She hated the cards that fate had given her. She had taken the life of her mother and her mission was to ultimately take the life of her father and once she did that, she would have killed both her parents. However, he mother's death had been a necessity and her father's death was also a necessity in order to liberate the world from his evil tyrannical rule and build Nunnally's ideal world.

"Thanks Nunnally," she said quietly, stroking the back of her half-sister's hand, "Coming from you, that means a lot."

That was not a total lie. After all, still thinking about what she had done still made her sick to her stomach and hearing Nunnally's kind words was somewhat comforting.

* * *

Meanwhile at the resistance hideout, Ohgi sat on a chair as he looked back at Tamaki, who was not in a good mood to say the least. Behind him was the TV with the frozen image of the newswoman with the two screens of the Purist news conference and Suzaku's arrest in the background.

"That why we should have issue a freakin' statement sooner," Tamaki ranted furiously before he started to walk towards the door, "We could have taken credit for it."

In reality, he was still infuriated at having his moment in the spotlight stolen from him. In his view, it should have been him and the fact that they already had a culprit only served to infuriate him even further. He had been shown up by a woman, credit that he felt should rightfully be his given to an Honorary Britannian who he did not care much for and viewed as a traitorous has-been and above all, he was still furious over the residents of Shinjuku blaming him for the massacre, which he knew was partly true as he did not stick to the plan.

Ohgi held out his hand and opened his mouth to call out to him, but decided against it as he knew that reasoning with Tamaki was impossible when he was mad like that. Tamaki left, slamming the door behind him as he stormed out.

Letting out a sigh, Ohgi turned to look at the picture of him, Kallen and Naoto.

"Naoto, I'm not cut out for this," he said to the picture as if expecting an answer from it, "I'm no leader."

He looked at the picture, concentrating on Naoto's form. Though Naoto did not loose his somewhat cocky carefree smile, Ohgi clearly pictured Naoto frowning at him from the picture for his failure as a leader. He had to admit that there was no way they could have gotten out of the Shinjuku massacre without that mysterious woman's help. He certainly would not have been able to think up of something as spectacular as what that woman had thought up and if they had been on their own, Ohgi knew that they would have been either been captured… or more likely… killed. He was supposed to be their leader. When Naoto was the leader, he had been second-in-command and one of Naoto's dying wishes was for Ohgi to take permanent command of the group. However, after his failure in Shinjuku and the need to rely on unknown help had proved… at least in his mind that he was not cut out for leadership.

* * *

Back at Ashford Academy, Euphemia came out of Nunnally's bedroom after staying with her until she was sure that she had fallen asleep. This was a usual thing. Nunnally always wanted Euphemia to stay with her until she had fallen asleep because she was fearful of falling asleep alone because she was afraid that she'd have nightmares. Sayoko had filled in for Euphemia that night she had come home late, but it had been clear that Nunnally preferred her big half-sister.

"Well then," C.C.'s voice came as Euphemia leaned up against the door, "That was unexpected, I must say. You must be really attached to your half-sister."

"Of course I am," Euphemia said, growling with annoyance, "She's all I have. Anyway, what the hell are you doing out of my room, I thought I told you to stay in there."

"Yes, about that," C.C said, deciding to come forward with her problem.

"Not now," Euphemia said, shaking her head as she stood up and started to walk towards her own room, "I have a friend to rescue and I have until sixteen hundred hours the day after tomorrow to get things ready for my meeting with Kallen and her terrorist friends; then we can get things ready for rescuing Suzaku."

"You mean that boy that's going to be paying for your crime?" C.C. asked in a somewhat uncaring tone as she seemed rather dismissive, much to Euphemia's annoyance.

"Yes and that boy just so happens to be my friend; the first true friend I ever had outside my family," she replied in a rather insulted tone laced with a hint of "Say stuff like that again and you'll be sorry" fury, "And I'd appreciate it if you'd not insult him. He was with me when you first emerged from that capsule, remember? I seem to recall you looking right at us before passing out."

"I suppose, but in truth, I don't care much for that to remember it," C.C. replied with an uncaring shrug, "Anyway, you also intend to start your crusade against the Britannian Emperor, are you not?"

"I am," Euphemia scoffed uncaringly, "What of it?"

"You honestly intend to go up against a superpower that controls over one third of the world?" the immortal girl went on with genuine curiosity, "Not to mention a man that fears absolutely nothing; including death itself. Face it; your father may just be too much for you. He fears nothing, zilch, zip, nada, squat, zero."

"Oh Charles zi Britannia fears something alright," Euphemia replied with a sinisterly evil grin on her face that sent shivers down the immortal's spine, "He fears that someone may grow strong enough to challenge him. He fears Britannia losing its superiority in the world. Why do you think he's so eager to conquer the world and destroy both the EU and Chinese Federation? He fears that they may someday surpass Britannia in power and that is something that he just will not tolerate. He'd sooner see the whole world go to Hell before he even considers that. However, other than that, you're right. Now all I need is to come up with a name representing what you just said… nothing. If he fears nothing, then I will become nothing."

"You're going to call yourself, Nothing?" C.C. asked, causing Euphemia to almost face-vault.

"No, I said I'll become something representing nothing," Euphemia said, shaking her head, though she suspected that C.C. was just messing with her, "If I went by the actual name; Nothing, it would sound rather stupid."

"How about Zero then?" C.C. suggested curiously.

"Too masculine, Zero is the sort of name a guy would use," Euphemia commented with a sigh as she shook her head, "Though a name relating to Zero wouldn't be all that bad. Anyway, I must get things prepared for what's about to come."

She then quickened her pace as C.C. stopped and stared ahead with a thoughtful look on her face.

"I hope you know what you're doing Euphemia," she thought, feeling really concerned for Euphemia since her survival was essential… or at least that's what she told herself, "What you're planning to pull off won't be easy; especially since you'll have to get really close to the lions within the den in order to accomplish your goals."

* * *

The next day, Euphemia sat in Ruben's office with her Geass activated as she had decided to enlist his help in getting things ready for her rescue of Suzaku.

"Yes, everything is just as you requested," Ruben said with a blank look on his face and an emotionless tone as he stared into Euphemia's eyes, "We have the best in the business working on it. Once the slide system is in order, it's all yours."

Euphemia nodded with a satisfactory smile on her face, though she did not take her eyes off Ruben's as she kept her Geass active.

"Once I've erased all of the evidence, I should forget this ever happened, right?" Ruben summarised in his conclusion.

"Of course," Euphemia said with finality

After all, she did not want the authorities to come snooping around academy investigating a possible link between it and the rescue of Suzaku; should everything go according to plan. This way, she was sure that Ruben would not divulge anything; whether it be an accidental slip of the tongue while he was out somewhere or if the authorities did suspect his involvement, he would be unable to tell them anything.

* * *

Later that day in the academy's main assembly hall, Ruben was busy giving a speech on Rochelle's demise and Clovis's injuries as everything seemed rather peaceful outside.

"Truly this has been a painful incident for all," he started to say, even as Euphemia looked on with a neutral look on her face, "The Viceroy of Area Eleven and the Imperial Consort, the beloved Rochelle li Britannia has been lost to us forever while Prince Clovis recuperates from his heinous injuries. However, we can and will bare the weight of this tragedy."

At this point, Euphemia; bored out her brain turned to look out the window to see a few birds fly by in the sky as the rest of the students continued to listen intently; except for Kallen, who just shook her head.

"And from this darkest of hours, draw strength…" he went on.

* * *

Meanwhile, Lloyd and Cecile were both in their lab standing in front of the Lancelot as the technicians carried out routine checks. However, Lloyd was not one bit happy to say the least. Sure, the Lancelot was fine and everything was normal, but the thing was, they had lost their pilot to the Purists' plot to abolish the Honorary Britannian system; something Lloyd knew about.

"Hmmm, we lost the most crucial part of the equation," Lloyd complained, making his dissatisfaction known.

"Can we do it without him?" Cecile asked curiously, as she knew that they could get someone else to pilot the Lancelot for them.

However, replacing someone was not something Lloyd enjoyed; especially considering how good Suzaku's skills in piloting the Lancelot were.

"Don't I wish," Lloyd replied with a hint of frustration in his voice, knowing that finding someone just as good as, if not better than Suzaku would be nearly impossible, "The other units never let go of a good pilot and even if we got one, it'll be a miracle if they're able to match if not accede his readings. His operational efficiency clocked in at ninety-four percent and you want to replace him?"

He was clearly not happy. The only other two pilots he could think of that would no doubt be right for the Lancelot were Marianne "the Flash" vi Britannia and Princess Cornelia li Britannia. However, Marianne was dead and unfortunately, Princess Cornelia already had her own unit, which she was rather attached to and would not even consider replacing; even if the replacement was a far superior model.

"You should tell them that, perhaps they'll let Suzaku go," Cecile said with clear concern in her voice as she walked up behind him with a held a clipboard to her chest.

"He's an Honorary Britannian; they'd never listen," Lloyd replied with hidden fury in his voice, "Ever since General Bartley's disgrace, the Purebloods have the military in an iron grip."

* * *

Meanwhile at Ashford Academy, Euphemia was walking with Shirley as the students all vacated the assembly hall and the building and was apparently telling her the same thing that Lloyd had told Cecile.

"The Purebloods... what?" Shirley asked in a shocked tone as she stopped and looked towards Euphemia who was beside her.

"Well, from what I understand they're saying that only pureblood Britannians should be allowed to serve in the military," Euphemia replied, inwardly growling at the Purists.

She hated that faction so much. She wanted nothing more than to see them all burn.

* * *

"Their view is, one of their own can never be a criminal," Lloyd went on from the lab in a calm tone, though his eyes held a burning fury and deep loathing within them, "But if the criminal is an Eleven, it paves the way for Margrave Jeremiah to shut down the practice of granting natives Honorary status."

"And what about Suzaku?" Cecile asked, not even trying to hide the concern and worry in her voice as she already knew the answer to that question.

She had found Suzaku a rather decent young man with a kind heart; as he had rescued someone during the battle in Shinjuku when he was not supposed to. She did not hate him and in fact came to regard him as somewhat of a friend and colleague. Cecile was not one of those Britannians who looked down on people because of where they came from. She knew that Suzaku was a kind and caring young man with a big heart. It made him a tad bit naïve and somewhat gullible, she'd admit, but he was good nonetheless. It was heartbreaking knowing that such a kind and caring soul was going to be executed for something he clearly did not do and what was worse, the people putting him to death knew full well he did not do it, but just did not care. It was Britannian pride, she figured… give the people an "Eleven" as a criminal and they would not want to hear about anything else. In their anger, their ignorance would blind them to the truth.

"His fate's all but decided," Lloyd replied with a sigh.

Cecile's only response with to look up with a small and sad smile on her face as she hoped that by some amazing coincidence, a miracle would occur that would save Suzaku.

* * *

Back at Ashford Academy, Rivalz came up behind Euphemia as she continued to walk back to the student council clubhouse.

"Hey Euphemia, you got anything goin' on later?" the blue-haired boy asked as he placed a hand on her shoulder and turned to look at her, "After all, classes have been cancelled for the day. Folks have been asking for a rematch."

He pointed to Euphemia with his index and middle finger and Shirley, who was facing them only frowned as she glared at them.

"You are not gambling you guys," she said with authority in her voice.

"Uh, come on," Rivalz said, almost dismissively, "Don't be such a stick in the mud."

"She's right though, maybe it's time to quit," Euphemia replied with a sigh, knowing that she had way too much to do before her meeting with Kallen and her group the next day.

"Huh?" Rivalz asked, looking at her in surprise

"I found a better opponent actually," Euphemia clarified; well, it was not a lie; her opponent or rather, opponents were the Purist Faction.

"You did?" Shirley asked, just as surprised as Rivalz, "I don't get it."

* * *

Not far away, Kallen was also walking away from the main school building, totally ignoring them as she concentrated on maintaining her façade, much to her own annoyance.

"You're cuttin' me in on the attention to, right?" she heard Rivalz ask Euphemia.

She then heard Euphemia reply with a laugh.

"Better not, it's really not up your alley," Euphemia replied, arousing Kallen's curiosity, but she just continued walking as she had more pressing issues on her mind; like what to do about that mysterious woman when she met with her tomorrow.

The woman had told her to come alone… yeah, like hell she was going to show up alone. Ohgi would never allow her to go alone anyway. Since Naoto died, he had been the one who looked out for her and she knew just how protective he was of her. She was his best friend's little sister after all and Kallen knew that he had promised her brother that he'd look out for her.

She decided that it was best to tell Ohgi and the others right away and was currently on her way to the school's exit feeling rather relieved to be free of that awful place with its insufferable propaganda in which… as she saw it said that Britannia was good and anything that was not Britannian was evil. That absolutely sickened her. Well, she supposed that Euphemia and Nunnally were the only positive aspects, but that was not much. Anyway, since classes had been cancelled, she saw no further need to be here. No one would question her absence. After all, whenever the day ended, she went straight home anyway and with her so-called weak constitution, she knew that she could leave without drawing suspicion.

* * *

Later, Kallen who was still in her school uniform was currently sitting in the resistance group's hideout after just telling them about the mysterious woman's call. Needless to say, Tamaki was irate; still furious about how she had "stolen his fifteen minutes of fame".

"No way, this has to be a trap," he said, pacing up and down the length of the room with a furious look on his face, "I say, don't go."

"But I'm expected," Kallen replied, shooting the hothead a glare, daring him to reply.

"That's enough," Ohgi spoke in a seriously harsh tone with a serious look on his face, defusing the situation before it had a chance to take off.

Tamaki calmed down with a growl as he shot Kallen a glare, not happy that she had gotten the last word, though whether it was because of her mixed blood or whether it was because she was a girl was unclear.

Ohgi closed his eyes as he nodded intently before turning to stare at Kallen and motioned her to continue.

"She told me to come alone," Kallen said with a sigh, "At sixteen hundred hours tomorrow afternoon at Tokyo Tower; she said that I had to come alone."

"Don't fall for it, it's clearly a trap," Tamaki repeated, much to Kallen's annoyance.

However, instead of shooting a reply back at him, she sighed as she took a few calming breaths.

"What makes you say that?" Inoue asked, looking at Tamaki curiously, "We'd either all be captured or dead if not for her."

Tamaki stopped his pacing and tensed up as he had to admit that that was a distinct fact. However, that was why he did not want Kallen to go. He hated it when people showed him up, especially when the person was a woman. He did not want to know her and clearly did not want her help. He'd sooner die than accept help from an outsider… heck, he hated it when a member of his own group helped him. In his mind, having others helping him made him look weak and that was not something he could stand. He was the best, his way was the best way and to have those notions proven wrong made him feel rather humiliated.

"What if it was all just a ploy by the Britannians, I mean, she spared Clovis after all," he replied, not wanting to admit his real reasons.

"He does have a point," a man with shoulder-length dark brown hair, Yoshida pointed out, "I mean, she did spare him."

Tamaki flashed a triumphant grin, glad that at least one person was on his side.

"But she killed one of the Emperor's Imperial Consorts," Inoue protested in an "as a matter of fact" tone, "Either way, if she's caught, she's done for. There's no way they'll tolerate the death of an Imperial Consort; much less the death of a Prince."

"But she won't get caught; that damn traitor; Kururugi's the one who's takin' the fall," Tamaki replied with a bitter growl, "I still say we should've issued a statement before hand and taken credit for ourselves."

Ohgi sighed as he rubbed his temples, deciding that it was best to wrap this up as… knowing Tamaki and his temper, things could escalate very quickly into a brawl since Tamaki was known for being rather violent when it came to getting his points across.

"Okay, that's enough," he said with authority in his voice, "Whatever her reasons… we'll find out tomorrow when we meet her."

"What, you can't be serious?" Tamaki protested in a furious tone, "We don't even know this bitch. How can we safely say that we can trust her?"

"I'll be the judge of that," Ohgi said with a stern look on his face as he shot Tamaki a hard stare that prevented him from answering back.

He then turned to Kallen, still maintaining his serious look, though his eyes softened somewhat.

"Kallen, you'll go to Tokyo Tower tomorrow as instructed," he said with a nod, confirming that she was going to go, "However, you won't be alone. Yoshida, Sugiyama and I will be there on lookout just in case. I doubt this is a trap, but still, just to be safe, we'll have lookouts."

Kallen nodded with nothing but determination on her face as Tamaki calmed down somewhat after hearing Ohgi's statements on lookouts.

"Yoshida, you'll arrive first at 15:05," Ohgi went on as Yoshida nodded as he understood what Ohgi was planning, "Sugiyama, you'll arrive at 15:15, I will arrive at 15:25 and Kallen, I want you to arrive at 15:45, twenty minutes after me. That way, hopefully our mysterious friend won't get suspicious. I want to see her for myself as well."

"I understand," Kallen said with a nod.

"Whatever," Tamaki grumbled, clearly not too happy about the whole situation.

* * *

"You have seriously got to be kidding me," C.C. said from inside Euphemia's room as Euphemia presented herself in a ridiculously skin-tight really dark pink spandex one-piece outfit along with a dark mask with a really dark pink circle at the front and a lighter shade of pink running along the bottom with the rest of the mask being black.

However, the most distinguishing feature of the mask was the white kanji symbol in the dark pink circle; the symbol meaning zero.

"What's wrong with it?" Euphemia asked, though her voice sounded electronic as it was apparent that she also had a voice alteration device.

"Are you seriously going to challenge Britannia in that disgrace of an outfit?" C.C. asked, raising an eyebrow, "You look like a complete and utter fool. I'll admit that the mask and voice changer device that comes with it are both rather intimidating, but that outfit makes it look like you're planning on going scuba-diving. Are you planning on liberating the Japanese or the local sea-life because with that outfit, I can pretty much believe the latter."

Euphemia pulled the mask off her head with a frown as she revealed that she had also gotten her hair cut to just above her shoulders. Immediately after her meeting with Shirley and Rivalz, she had gone to a nearby hairdresser and used her Geass to get the woman to cut her hair since the helmet-like mask could not contain her long waist-length hair and having it exposed at the back would increase the chances of her getting caught.

"Must you mock me at every opportunity?" she said in an annoyed tone, "This was the best I could come up with."

C.C. shook her head.

"Seriously, I wonder if being shaken around in Miss Nu's stolen Knightmare Frame when that new Knightmare found us did something to your brain," she said honestly, "You look pathetic. The Britannians and Japanese will have one thing in common though; they'll all be in agreement that you are an absolute joke. Though I suppose your mission of toppling Britannia will be made easier as everyone will be too caught up in their laughter to notice you when you kill them."

Euphemia groaned and she looked herself over.

"Okay, you win, I'll admit that it needs work," she said as she had to admit that it was a bit too skin-tight and did nothing to hide the size of her bust, which wasn't all that great, but still enough to be noticeable, "However, I also have something else."

She then walked over to her closet and after opening the door, she pulled out a cape that was the same dark pink colour as the outfit with the outline being the same lighter pink colour as the bottom of her mask and put it on. The cape seemed to wrap round her body and came to two points at the top; one on either side, which crisscrossed underneath her chin at diagonal angles and C.C. nodded with an impressed look on her face.

"Now that is impressive," she said in an appreciative tone with a nod, "And with the mask, you would look rather intimidating, but once the cape opens up, it would feel rather anti-climatic. Like I said before, that outfit's a joke, though you could still kill your father with it."

"Shut up," Euphemia growled, feeling rather embarrassed and humiliated, "Would laugh if it was girly pink dotted with yellow flowers?"

Honestly, C.C. was rather infuriating. She seemed rather cold and neutral to just about everything. She had to admit that her outfit was laughable to look at, but C.C. did not laugh, though she did point out the faults. It really infuriated her how the immortal girl could just make those comments without cracking even the slightest snigger. It was like she was a robot or android that did not have happiness in her programming and Euphemia had to admit that it was somewhat hurtful to her feelings. Sure, she knew that having C.C. laugh at her would be hurtful as well, but the fact that she was not and kept staring at her with those rather cold eyes devoid of emotion was even more hurtful.

"I'm not one to give into my emotions," C.C. said simply with a shrug in response to Euphemia's question, "I really think that having emotions is just a waste of time since they have absolutely no meaning in life other than to make people believe that life is more interesting than it actually is. Believe me, when you've lived for as long as I have, you'll soon learn that life is rather dry and boring from which death is the only salvation. Unfortunately, I don't have that luxury."

"That is one screwed up view you have," Euphemia replied, shaking her head, "In any case, I won't bother wasting my breath in trying to tell you how wrong you are. Anyway, if my outfit is a joke, what should I do about it?"

C.C. shrugged, much to Euphemia's displeasure.

"That's up to you; I'm not your boss," the immortal said dismissively before giving the infuriated pinkette a serious stare, "But if you want my advice, then I suggest you take it to a really good tailor and have him make something out of that monstrosity of an outfit. Seriously, if you went around in that, you'd be demoralising yourself."

Euphemia only groaned in dissatisfaction.

* * *

Later that night, Euphemia stood in the centre of a rather big basement room in a shop of a local tailor she knew was associated with one of the nobles she had defeated at chess. Gambling and playing against the nobles did have its benefits aside from earning enough money to support herself and Nunnally. By defeating the nobles, she could also force favours out of them as part of her reward for defeating them, which was which she had done here; getting the nobleman, Mr Spacer to arrange a meeting between her and his tailor who was pretty good at making new clothes and turning old ragged robes into something state-of-the-art and brand new to the point where no one would ever believe what it had been before. Of course, having her Geass also helped. She had used her Geass on both Mr Spacer and his tailor to ensure their cooperation.

Currently, the tailor was looking over her outfit and shaking his head in disgust.

"No, no, no, this'll never do," he said as he continued to shake his head, "You were right in coming to me with this young lady. I've never seen such a disgraceful suit in all my life. It's the exact definition of the word, stupid."

"I realise that," Euphemia replied as she rolled her eyes, "Can you do something about it; turn it into something rather intimidating to look at? Oh, and it has to be done by tomorrow at fourteen-thirty hours at the latest, can you do that?"

The tailor nodded.

"Of course I can ma'am. I can have it done by noon tomorrow," he said with confidence in his voice.

Euphemia nodded with a smirk.

"Great, I'll hold you to that," she replied, feeling rather satisfied with herself.

This was rather easy for her, she figured. The basement of the tailor's shop was perfect. With no windows present, no one could peer in and see what was going on and with her Geass, she had ensured his loyalty to her. With her Geass, she had commanded him to forget about her whenever she was not around and would only remember her whenever she entered the shop in which he would do jobs for her as well as give her information on his customers in case she found something that she could put to good use. Of course, he'd ask his customers questions without them being aware as to why and would only back down if the customer became suspicious, but with the instructions Euphemia had given him, he would appear to just to be curious and not persistent. It would probably take someone of phenomenal intelligence to realise that something was off, or some paranoid fool not knowing just how right they actually were and even if someone did somehow manage to trace him, with the command to forget her whenever she was not in his shop would mean that he could not divulge anything.

"Perfect," she thought with a smile, "Though I really must experiment with my Geass so I can discover any other drawbacks and limitations. After all, one must know the nature of their power before they can make use of it to its fullest. I can only use it on a person once, I already know that. However, I wonder what other limitations it has."

She then turned to the tailor.

"I'll be back tomorrow to pick up my new outfit as fourteen-thirty," she informed him before turning and walked towards the exit, "Remember what I told you."

The tailor nodded as Euphemia left before he got to work almost immediately.

* * *

Once out the shop, Euphemia started walking back to the academy musing over her plan to herself. She had also used her Geass on Mr Spacer, the nobleman she had defeated before this whole mess started and who employed the tailor to do his clothes. He would forget about her as well. As far as he was concerned, he had never met her for that discussion about his tailor. He would still believe tat the last time he saw her was when both she and Rivalz left him wondering just how in the world she had managed to beat him. She supposed that perhaps she was being a tad too paranoid, but being a former princess living in exile and with her family, save Clovis believing her to be dead, she knew that she could not afford to take chances. She had to cover her tracks as best she could. That man would undoubtably come down on her and Nunnally and come down on them hard if he found out that they were still alive.

Charles zi Britannia was not a very forgiving man. He was cruel, brutal and strict when it came to matters of discipline. He did not forgive neither did he forget and he always went out of his way to ensure that those he disciplined did not forget either. He was a very frightening man if provoked and Euphemia knew that all those who suffered his wrath in the past did not emerge unscathed and were forever changed. She knew that that would await both her and Nunnally if he discovered them both alive. He'd force them both back to Pendragon and then he would undoubtably bring about his wrath upon them both and beat them into being his loyal unquestioning puppets. The trauma would undoubtably break Nunnally, whose mentality was in a rather fragile state.

"I'll be dead before I let that happen," she thought, reminding herself of her self-appointed mission, "I must bring that man down for both my and Nunnally's sakes. It's the only way to ensure the world Nunnally wants can come into being. That man must be removed from this world before that can occur."

She knew that it would be a long and difficult road. Bringing down an empire with control of over a third of the world would not be easy. She knew that in order to do this, she would need help, which was why she had decided to recruit Kallen and her resistance group to her cause. Her rescue of Suzaku from execution and the downfall of the Purist Faction would only be the first steps and hopefully as time went on, more people would join her until she had amassed an army great enough to topple the Britannian influence in Japan and help Japan regain its independence and with that accomplished, she planned on setting her sights on the Britannian Emperor himself. It would be difficult and the mountain she would have to scale would be almost impossible to scale, but she swore that she would do it; come hell or high water, she would topple Britannia and bring it in line with the rest of the world.

"I can hardly wait," she thought with a sinisterly evil smirk, "And the irony of it is that Britannia's biggest headache won't be from a foreigner of a conquered nation; it'll be one of their own; one of their own who was abandoned. I can't wait to see the look on that man's face when I finally reveal myself to him. Do you still see me as some pacifist weakling pops?"

She resisted the urge to burst into laughter as she walked down the street. However, the irony of it all was so laughable, it was almost a joke. Britannia falling because of the actions of one of its own people turned renegade and traitor. Her plans were simple. Bring down Britannia, bring it to book and bring it in line with the rest of the world. She'd show the Britannian people that what they were doing was wrong and their beliefs about other people were wrong and she'd force them to accept the reality of the situation and not the reality they had built for themselves. It would be a total shock to them and no doubt, they'd have a hard time accepting it, but Euphemia knew that they had to wake up to reality and stop living in fantasy worlds. Britannians were people just like the Japanese and the other peoples of the world.

"I wonder what you'd think of that," she thought looking up at the sky as if trying to speak with her father, "I wonder how you'll take to realising that you're just a human being just like everyone else. I do so look forward to beating it into your empty clueless skull. We all breathe the same air, we all need to eat and drink in order to stay alive and we all get sick and die. Britannians are no different in that regard. We get sick just like anyone else. We die just like anyone else."

She continued on her way home, knowing that everything was getting prepared. She had Ruben send a few of his male house staff into the old subway system of the Shinjuku Ghetto in order to retrieve C.C.'s capsule from the abandoned truck; having used her Geass on them to make sure they forgot everything. It had been rather simple sneaking it in under the cover of darkness. She was planning on using it to aid in Suzaku's rescue. Since most of the military and the public believed that it contained poison gas, Euphemia had decided to use coloured smoke that was effectively harmless, but the people did not know that and in their panic, they'd create enough confusion for her and whoever decided to help her make their getaway with Suzaku and with her Geass, she could initiate the fall of the Purists in such a convincing way that no one would suspect a thing.

"Why should I dirty my hands with them when I can quite easily cause enough of a scandal to have them tear themselves apart?" she thought with a smile.

This was sure going to be quite spectacular indeed. She wanted nothing more than to be rid of the Purists and with what she had planned, not only would their popularity plummet overnight, but if all went well, they may end up fighting amongst themselves, tearing themselves apart and thus bringing their influence to an end and not only that, but they would also destroy any chance they had in future of regaining what they had lost.

"Now then, all I need to do is convince those terrorists to help me," she thought in conclusion, "Once that's accomplished, I can start making preparations for my debut as Britannia's Public Enemy Number One."

* * *

Meanwhile, C.C. sat in Euphemia's room reading through a magazine on Knightmare Frames. She was not that all surprised about the books Euphemia had chosen to read; mostly stuff to do with economies, military hardware… basically stuff that could prove useful to her in bringing down Britannia. It was not that all surprising that the immortal girl had found some anti-Britannian rhetoric in her search for something to read to prevent her mind from falling into boredom, which had become the norm now. Despite being free from that capsule, C.C. still felt like she was a prisoner being cooped up in that room all day; and maybe she was. After all, Euphemia had still to interrogate her about certain things and it was clear that the pinkette did not completely trust her.

It was not that C.C. particularly cared whether or not Euphemia trusted her or not; at least that's what she told herself, it was just that being held up in a room all day was proving to be rather frustrating. She needed to get out and get some exercise. She felt like a caged animal and it annoyed her. What annoyed her even more was that whenever she had tried to confront Euphemia about it; Euphemia had always been too preoccupied with other things to spare her the time, which she found rather frustrating. Still, she understood the necessity of this particular situation. Euphemia was going to save her friend from being executed for a crime that she herself had committed and C.C. realised that Euphemia would not falter no matter what. She was determined to go through with this and C.C. found herself with no choice but to go along with it. After all, she needed Euphemia in her right state of mind if she was going to carry out her role in the plan.

She suddenly frowned and then sighed.

"Oh, it's you," she said with a sigh, "I'm stuck in Euphemia's room bored out my brains as usual. I don't think that girl entirely trusts me to be honest."

After a moment of silence, C.C. nodded.

"I know that, but what is she gets too suspicious," she asked the mysterious person, "I've already told you umpteen times that she may not be that easy to control and from her attitude so far, I don't think she'll go along with the plan."

C.C. winced before shaking her head.

"No, that just won't do, who's going to replace her?" she asked with a hint of uneasiness in her voice, "Definitely not you in your current situation. You may have entered a contract with me, but your Geass cannot evolve unless you're in possession of your body and we both know that regaining possession of your body is now impossible."

C.C. listened for a while and then looked as if she was going to protest with a clearly troubled look on her face.

"Tell me that you're not seriously thinking that…" she started to say, but trailed off, deciding that any further argument was pointless as her contact's mind was already made up.

"I-I understand," she said, resided herself to defeat, "Anyway, as for what's going on here… her friend's been arrested for Rochelle's murder and is being used as the Purists' scapegoat to abolish the Honorary Britannian system."

There was another moment of silence as C.C. was clearly getting increasingly troubled over what she had just been told.

"No, it seems that V.V.'s cronies won't arrive in time to observe her pull this off," she replied, feeling somewhat relieved at that bit of good news, "Though how she intends to do it is beyond me."

C.C. nodded.

"Yes, I understand, I'll keep watching her as instructed, though I surely hope I'm wrong because I wouldn't want for that to come to pass," she said with a sigh, "Euphemia's been through a lot and doesn't deserve this."

She then frowned and shook her head.

"I honestly wish I could believe that," she said shaking her head.

However, to her shock and horror, the door opened and Euphemia walked in and then closed the door behind her.

"Euphemia… you're back," C.C. said somewhat fearfully.

"Uh huh, I only went to a tailor shop just ten minutes from here," the pinkette replied, looking at the immortal girl in confusion, "What's with you? You look like you just saw a ghost."

"Well, I… I… I…" she stuttered trying to think of something to say.

Euphemia looked down at the bed and noticed the magazine and then looking off in the direction of her bookcase, noticed that it was all a big mess.

"Damn it C.C., look at the mess you made," she scolded, causing C.C. to flinch, though inwardly she was relieved that Euphemia had not been listening in on her conversation, "You can read my stuff, but make sure you tidy up. It took me forever to arrange these books you know."

"I-I h-h-had no i-idea that you w-w-w-were a neat-freak," the immortal girl stuttered as she calmed down, "Sorry about that, it's just that I'm so bored."

Euphemia nodded in understanding and then sighed.

"Okay, I understand," she said as she stared up at C.C., "We're going to have to do something about that since I can't have you messing up my room."

C.C. nodded, unable to believe her luck. Euphemia had managed to catch on to what she wanted to discuss with her.

"However, it'll have to wait for now," Euphemia went on, causing C.C. to frown, "I'm way too busy to deal with you right now, so your problems will just have to wait, now get off my bed."

C.C. complied, glad that Euphemia did not catch her while seemingly talking to herself. That would have made things rather awkward and problematic and with what her contact had told her, she knew Euphemia could very well wind up in serious danger if she came to suspect something. She gave Euphemia a rather concerned look as she took out her nightgown from the closet and left the room to find somewhere to get changed. Things were getting rather complicated. It seemed that her conspirators were having changes of heart about Euphemia. Sure, they were still in agreement that she was the key to their plan's success, but it seemed that they had decided to do away with her if she proved to be uncooperative when the time came and that concerned her greatly, though she did not know why. Euphemia was nothing to her other than a means to an end… or at least that's what she kept telling herself. Heck, she knew the pinkette hardly trusted her, if at all. So why was she so concerned for her? It did not make any sense whatsoever.

"It doesn't really matter anyway," she thought to herself as she shook her head, deciding that she was too tired to think, "I must stick to my mission and that's that."

However, even as those words passed through her mind, she was becoming rather unsure of her conviction and once again started to question the plan because deep down in her subconscious, she knew that if Euphemia did not cooperate and ended up paying for it, she would not be too happy and would undoubtably feel a rather heavy burden of guilt at having led the pinkette to her demise and that was unsettling to say the least.

* * *

**Author's Note **– Another chapter done. Hip, hip, Hooray as Lloyd Asplund would say. Sorry for the delay in updating. Things are just rather hectic for me t the moment with Christmas drawing near and all. Don't expect another update until at least this time next week , if not a bit later since things are still hectic. I'll try to get another chapter done sooner and if I do, it'll be a miracle. Anyway this chapter was focused mainly on Euphemia getting things ready for rescuing Suzaku and next chapter will be the meeting between Euphemia (as her alter-ego, which I will not name until next chapter) and the terrorist group. As for C.C., she's having second thoughts about the plan. Will her conscience win out in the end and she ends up revealing everything to Euphemia? You'll just have to wait and see.


	13. Recruiting the help

**Code Geass – Euphemia of the Revelation**

**Recruiting the help**

**Disclaimer **– Code Geass is the property of Sunrise, Bandai Entertainment and Ichiro Okouchi, so I don't own anything afflicted with Code Geass.

* * *

**Warnings **– Strong language, strong violence, Euphemia OOC (obviously), yuri, possible lemons in later chapters (unsure)

* * *

It was 16:01 on the day that Kallen was scheduled meet with the mysterious woman who had helped her and her group in the Shinjuku massacre and Kallen had been waiting for her for the past sixteen minutes, having arrived at 15:45 as per Ohgi's plan. Ohgi, Yoshida and Sugiyama were all on lookout at three separate points just in case it was a trap, though all three kept an eye on Kallen, who was still in her school uniform and had her hair straight as she looked over some enlarged photographs that documented the month-long war in which Japan was defeated, pretending to show an interest as she listened to the pro-Britannian propaganda playing in the background.

The once proud structure that had been Tokyo Tower, which was on the settlement/ghetto border was now a mere shell of its former self with the top having been destroyed in the war leaving only the lower observation deck near the halfway point and just where the tower stopped its ascent with the rest missing and the perimeter surrounded by high-rise mesh fences and scaffolding. The observation deck also doubled as a Britannian war museum that glorified Britannia's war efforts and was known among the Britannians as the Britannian Victory Memorial Centre.

"Britannia's resounding victory over Japan opened the unenlightened nation's eyes to its true place in today's World Order," the propaganda recording, which was a woman's voice played in the background as the people went about their business; most not really paying the recordings any mind, "Since then, the Empire and Area Eleven have walked hand in hand on the road to revival."

The message absolutely sickened Kallen to no end. How can Britannia honestly believe that what they were doing was right? Unenlightened nation… ha, the Britannians only invaded because they wanted access to Japan's Sakuradite resources and Japan had refused to give them unconditional access; so the Britannians decided that if Japan would not cooperate, they would go in and take what they wanted by force. To any Japanese person listening to the propaganda; the subliminal message was clear; "We kicked your asses, so deal with it". It was rather typical of Britannia Kallen figured… always hiding their misdeeds behind twisted messages that fooled their people into believing that conquering other countries and oppressing their natives was okay because they deserved it somehow just for being alive and what infuriated Kallen the most was that no one had ever questioned it. It was the main reason she had come to hate Britannians as a whole in the first place. They were all gullible and believed what was being fed into their brains and never once questioned it.

"Sixteen hundred hours at Tokyo Tower," she thought as she struggled to keep her composure as listening to that accursed message over and over again was beginning to get on her nerves, "Why here of all places?"

* * *

Ohgi, Yoshida and Sugiyama all left their posts and made their way to a spot with war pictures and looked up as if showing an interest while playing the part of submissive "Elevens". The Japanese were indeed allowed to enter the tower, but they did not have the same rights as the Britannians. If a Britannian wanted to stand where a Japanese person was standing then that person would have to move and with the exhibits, the Japanese were not allowed to get too close where as the Britannians could walk right up to the guard rails.

"Supposing it was Kururugi that contacted us?" Sugiyama, the man with dark blue hair suggested, "What then?"

"Nah, it couldn't have been him, the person who contacted us was definitely a woman and Kururugi's a guy," Yoshida said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, maybe he was disguising his voice to sound like a woman," Sugiyama stated in his defence, "You know since he's recognisable as being our last Prime Minister's son and all."

"Hard to say for sure, though I doubt it," Ohgi said, shaking his head.

"Yeah, but what if he was arrested after his communication with Kallen?" Yoshida said, deciding to play along.

"Then we're in danger here," Sugiyama summarised with a hint of fear in his voice, "We should go."

Kallen, who was nearby was getting rather impatient. It had already passed 16:05 and still the mysterious woman had not shown up and Kallen had to wonder why. Was it possible that she knew that she was not alone and was revising her strategy since she had told her to come alone? However, that was impossible; her three cohorts all arrived at different times and she had arrived twenty minutes later, so how would she know they were with her, unless she had somehow managed to see and memorise all their faces during the Shinjuku battle or maybe she was paranoid over Japanese people in the Tower and simply did not trust them as she knew that all of Kallen's friends were Japanese. That seemed plausible. Perhaps the mysterious woman saw them and became paranoid and got cold feet. However, the sound of a bell was suddenly heard, interrupting the propaganda message.

"Attention please," a female voice came over the message, "Paging Miss Kallen Stadtfeld from Ashford Academy."

Kallen tensed and Ohgi, Sugiyama and Yoshida gasped in shock at hearing their friend's name.

"One of your personal affects has been turned in at the kiosk on the observation desk," the voice went on, "I repeat…."

The three of them turned to their right in the direction of the observation desk's kiosk and then as Kallen passed, followed her closer with Ohgi reaching into his jacket and his hand wrapped round the handle of a gun that he had brought with him just in case things got ugly.

Once Kallen reached the kiosk, a woman dressed in a pink uniform behind the counter flashed her a friendly smile.

"Hi, I'm assuming this phone is yours ma'am," she said as she handed a cell phone to Kallen.

Kallen rather hesitantly took the phone with a look of pure confusion on her face. She did not recall loosing it; in fact, she had never even laid eyes on that particular phone before. Obviously the mysterious woman was to blame and it was a sign that she was being cautious.

The woman behind the counter noticed Kallen's confused look as the young girl stared at the phone as if unsure what to make of it.

"Um, is something wrong?" she asked with a confused look of her own, "It is yours, isn't it?"

"Eh, yeah, I'm just surprised someone cared enough to turn it in," Kallen replied, saying the first thought that came into her head as she turned to leave, "Thank you so much."

* * *

"Oh yeah, there's no debating it; life is better here thanks to Prince Clovis and Rochelle li Britannia," Ohgi said sarcastically in response to the propaganda message as he and his two cohorts walked to the observation desk and waited for Kallen who came walking up to the observation desk's guardrail, all the while looking at her new phone that the mysterious woman had given her, "I mean, it's all due to Britannia that we can rebuild as quickly as we did."

The phone Kallen had was a long phone with circular ends. The phone's main screen was at the top as a circle surrounded by a circular silver frame held in place by three screws; one at the bottom and two at either side at the top at diagonal angles. The screen displayed the phone's battery life-bar, a letter symbol and a phone symbol and was currently displaying the caller ID indicating that she had an incoming call. However, to her shock and astonishment, all the caller ID displayed was the word, "From" and a single symbol underneath that Kallen knew was the kanji symbol representing zero.

"What the, it's in Japanese?" she asked herself as she heard the phone vibrate and answered it.

* * *

Outside the Tower, Euphemia was currently walking away from it with her cell phone to her ear and smiled when she heard the sound of someone answering her call.

"Um… hello," she heard Kallen's voice say in a nervously cautious tone, bringing a smirk to the former princess's face.

"I want you to board the outbound train on Loop Line Five," the pinkette instructed with seriousness in her voice, "And I want you to bring your friends."

"What?" Kallen's voice came as an astonished gasp.

"Reverse psychology," Euphemia explained as she knew that Kallen would not turn up alone despite her instructing her to, "With you as cautious as you are, I knew that reverse psychology was the only way to ensure you'd show up with some of your friends. If I told you to come with your friends, no doubt you would have come alone or at least with your leader as your only insurance."

She then hung up, not giving Kallen a chance to reply. She then smirked and started to make her way towards the train station.

"Time to get things ready for our meeting," she thought with a smirk, "This'll only be the beginning of Britannia's downfall."

* * *

"Hey, wait a minute!" Kallen shouted into her new phone as she heard the mysterious woman hang up.

Ohgi and the other two jumped as Kallen let out a dissatisfied groan.

"What is it?" Ohgi asked with a hint of concern in his voice; concerned that the mysterious woman had decided to cancel the whole thing in which case, they had been wasting there time.

"She knew, she knew I wasn't alone," Kallen said, causing the other three to tense up as Kallen turned to look at them, "Reverse psychology. She knew the whole time that I wouldn't show up alone, that's why she told me to come alone. She knew that I'd do the opposite."

"Smart babe, isn't she?" Yoshida said in astonishment.

"Uh huh, she's rather smart, I'll give her that," Ohgi agreed with a nod before turning to face Kallen, "So what does she want us to do?"

"She wants us to board the outbound train on Loop Line Five," Kallen replied with a sigh.

"Then that's what we'll do," Ohgi said with conviction in his voice, "I want to see her for myself. Just because she helped us before doesn't mean to say that she can be trusted. I'll judge her for myself."

The other three nodded as they made their way towards the exit.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jeremiah Gottwald spun round on his seat in his office, turning from the window to face the man standing in front of him; Diethard Reid with a serious and professional look on his face.

"You handled Lady Rochelle's memorial program very well," he said in a serious tone, hinted with a hint of suspicion as it was clear that this man had everything already set up in advance, "A little too weepy for my tastes, but…"

"Yes, well the masses tend to like tear jerkers Your Excellency," Diethard replied in a neutral, yet professional tone.

"Spoken like a true TV man," Jeremiah quoted dismissively before deciding to forward his suspicions, "Still, I have to acknowledge the finesse you've shown."

He then paused and rested his chin on the top of his hand as his elbow rested on the table. Villetta stood to his left with a stone cold neutral look on her face and to his right a man with light brownish orange hair and blue eyes and wearing the Purist attire stood with an equally stone cold look on his face.

"You did well in the short time you had," Jeremiah went on after his pause as the suspicion in his voice became evident, "One would almost think you were expecting Lady Rochelle to meet her untimely end."

Of course Jeremiah could care less about the truth. True, everything had gone so well as if everything had been well prepared before Rochelle's demise, he'd admit and it did seem a tad suspicious. However, what Jeremiah wanted was to tie up loose ends in case the real culprit was discovered and knowing the lengths some of those people in the media would go to in order to get a good story, he wanted to eliminate the possibility that Diethard was in on the murder and eliminate him if need be. After all, he could not have anyone come forward with proof that would vindicate Suzaku Kururugi as it would ruin his plans and for that purpose; he was willing to let the true culprit get off scot-free.

"It's quite common for memorial programs to be set in advance for important people," Diethard replied without hesitation as he brought his legs together, standing at attention and then crossed his arm over his torso at his stomach and gave a bow.

The word Jeremiah should have said was "hoping" instead of "expecting" Diethard figured. What he said was true though. Memorial programs for important people such as members of the Imperial Family were set up well in advance… mostly by the members of the Imperial Family themselves just in case of incidents such as this. However, Diethard honestly had hoped for Rochelle and Clovis to meet their end. Of course, Clovis was still alive, but that was no big deal. Rochelle's death was quite a story in itself and would suffice for now. He was a cameraman and reporter working for the Britannian news channel, Hi-TV and like those in the media; he was always searching for a good story. However, everything nowadays had become so repetitive. Britannian conquering "unenlightened" nations and terrorist attacks were nothing new and in Diethard's mind; it was getting rather dull and boring having to film the same things over and over again. What Diethard wanted was something new to document, but unfortunately, Britannia was so inflexible and pretty much enjoyed its repetitive nature to the point that it made Diethard sick to his stomach. In his view, Britannia was nothing more than an overrated relic of old that was trying to fool everyone into believing that it was still the best thing since sliced beard. Diethard had been at the party Clovis and Rochelle both had hosted before the whole Shinjuku mess and he had been about to leave when a soldier came and told both Clovis and Rochelle something that mad the latter panic. Unfortunately, he could not manage to get over to the Shinjuku Ghetto and was unable to document what happened, but he was sure that it was part of some kind of cover up and was eager to discover the truth.

"Does that include me as well?" Jeremiah asked in response to Diethard's last comment, feeling a tad bit insulted as Diethard was brought back to reality.

"Recent events may have bumped you up the list a bit Your Excellency," Diethard replied without hesitation once again and Jeremiah had to wonder if he had anticipated his questions and had rehearsed his responses before their meeting.

"I wasn't deemed important enough till now, is that it?" he asked the reporter with an impressed smirk on his face, having to admit that he was good "How forthright of you."

"I'm afraid so sir," Diethard replied with a small sigh as he briefly closed his eyes as if he was admitting something he would rather keep secret.

"Ever thought of enlisting?" Jeremiah asked curiously, changing the subject, "The army could use more men like you."

"I don't think it would be a very good fit," Diethard replied honestly, keeping his tone neutral and professional, "Not really my cup of tea."

"You prefer the civil sector I take it," Jeremiah deduced dismissively, "No matter, I have another favour to ask of you."

The man standing to his right closed his eyes and then shot him a brief glare of jealousy. He wished it was him as the leader of the Purist Faction and could not help but feel a bit jealous. He knew what Jeremiah was planning, but in truth what he wanted more than anything was to be in Jeremiah's position and seize power for himself. However, he just remained silent, believing his hopes and dreams to be nothing more than an unattainable delusion and resided himself to his current position.

"Tomorrow night, Suzaku Kururugi will be transferred to his court martial," Jeremiah went on.

"We should line the road with good patriotic Britannians," Diethard cut in as he phrased exactly what Jeremiah was going to say as he knew what was on the Margrave's mind.

"Excellent, you catch on quickly, don't you?" Jeremiah replied with his hands clasped in front of him as he rested his elbows on the table and turned to face Villetta with a triumphant smirk on his face, "Be sure the rabble can see his face."

"Lord Jeremiah, there are those among the Elevens who see Private Kururugi as a hero," Villetta replied, pointing out a valid point, though her tone remained neutral and professional, "Some might very well make an attempt to free him."

She still had this frightening feeling that something big was going to happen that would change everything and what terrified her most of all was this frightening feeling that the Purist Faction was going to come out the worst off.

"I'll be there personally aboard my Sutherland," Jeremiah replied as he unclasped his hands and leaned back on his chair sounding a bit annoyed, "If anyone even thinks of causing trouble, they'll be executed on the spot."

Everyone in the room could not help but flinch as the threatening undertone in his voice as his look became something resembling a hard determined glare, but then again, this was his plan to abolish the Honorary Britannian system and he was determined that nothing was going to ruin it for him, though Villetta knew that there was something Jeremiah had not counted on, though she could not remember what it was and if her feelings were accurate, that little missed detail was going to be not only his undoing, but the undoing of the entire Purist Faction. However, telling him that would prove futile as he would not listen.

"I sure hope you know what you're doing Lord Jeremiah," she thought, giving her superior a concerned look, "Because I get the feeling that our faction's days are numbered."

She did not know why she felt like that and the more she tried to dismiss it, the more it grew. Maybe it was just nerves as she was still creped out about her blackout while in the Shinjuku Ghetto in which her Sutherland had apparently been stolen and if she remembered correctly, by a Britannian student and an escaped mental patient if the girl's outfit was anything to go by, though she could not remember much else. Maybe it was just jitters from that episode that had her so tense and paranoid.

* * *

Meanwhile on board a monorail train that was currently winding its way through the Tokyo Settlement, Kallen was staring hard at her new phone; given to her by the mysterious woman had apparently given her via the kiosk at Tokyo Tower as she wondered just what in the world was going on. Whoever this woman was; she sure was clever and rather cautious, she'd give her that, but in truth, all this running around was clearly frustrating.

"Attention all passengers," an announcement came over the PA system in a female voice that was obviously a recording, "If you become aware of any suspicious items on board, please alert metro personnel by using the nearest intern telephone."

Just then, Kallen's phone started to vibrate, causing her look to harden.

"What now?" she said as she pushed the call button and placed it to her ear as Ohgi looked on and his eyes briefly widened in surprise at Kallen being contacted again.

This was indeed rather creepy, the four terrorists could agree on. The train was full of other passengers and yet, it was all too quiet for their liking. Sure, hardly anyone spoke when travelling on the trains and when they did, it was at a low volume so as not to disturb the other passengers. However, all the passengers sat quietly in various position; not uttering even a single syllable and their eyes had a rather distance look in them; devoid of emotion as the passenger sat unmoving as still as statues. Ohgi and Sugiyama stood on either side of the sets of doors near the rear of the train carriage and Yoshida sat on the right between the door sets. This was strange, they figured. The passengers sat like they were in some sort of hypnotic trance or deactivated robots. What was also strange was that when they arrived at the station, the train was already there waiting at the platform and from the looks of it, it had been there for some time as if waiting for them since as soon as they boarded, the doors had closed and the train departed.

"Face forward and look to your right," the voice of the mysterious woman commanded through Kallen's phone and Kallen complied, deciding to play along, at least for now, though she was getting rather annoyed with this woman's game, "What do you see?"

"The Britannian City, it was stolen away from us and built on our sacrifice," she said in a hushed voice so the other passengers would not hear with a deep loathing bitterness in her voice as buildings that looked fairly new and recent and also immaculately spotless passed by outside.

"And on the left?" the voice said in a commanding tone that made it seem that her statement was not a question and Kallen turned to the left and realised that the train was travelling on the settlement/ghetto border.

"I see our city; remnants of a desiccated city after the Britannians sucked it dry," she went on as ruined and decimated buildings passed by; some were even no longer straight and leaning in various directions.

This was the original Tokyo City and what Kallen saw were the parts that Britannia was not interested in. It looked deserted and in a state of disrepair. It was both heartbreaking and infuriating at the same time. Kallen could not help be hate the Britannians even more every time she stared at the old city Buildings passed by that had holes in them and smashed windows. They had once part of one of Tokyo's business districts and now they were reduced to abandoned wrecks decaying in the wind beyond repair. Britannia had stolen it from the Japanese. Britannia had stolen the Japanese people's country and it made Kallen's blood boil with pure venomous rage.

"Good answer," the voice of the mysterious woman came over the phone, bringing Kallen back to reality, "Now make your way to the front of the train."

Kallen looked a bit unsure as she took the phone away from her ear and stared at it with an unsure expression on her face before she looked up and gave Ohgi a serious stare before she started to walk towards the far end of the carriage toward the front of the train. Ohgi just nodded as Kallen passed him and then motioned for Sugiyama and Yoshida to follow as they ignored the announcement over the PA. Yoshida got up off the seat and followed Kallen, Ohgi and Sugiyama with Kallen in the lead.

They all had to admit that it was creepy. The other passengers did not react to the PA announcement in the slightest. They still sat unmoving and unblinking. In the next carriage, which was more crowded. Some of the passengers were even standing and the four terrorists had to weave their way by them, though they all stood with their backs to them and some even moved to give them more room to pass, though they still brushed against a few of them. However, the fact they did not react, even to that was downright terrifying and Ohgi found himself reaching into his coat with his hand wrapped round the handle of his gun just in case things turned ugly.

Once they reached the last carriage, Kallen looked on in surprise as she noticed that it was empty… well, aside from the lone figure standing at the end with their back to her. The figure seemed to be wrapped in a rather dark pink cape that arced off into two tails just above the back of their knees with points at the end that almost touched the floor and from the looks of it; the figure was also wearing a black helmet.

"Was it you… on the phone?" Kallen asked rather cautiously as she glared towards the figure as Ohgi, Sugiyama and Yoshida came in behind her.

Yoshida looked back at the passengers in the carriage they had just come out from and noticed that they were still entranced as they still did not move or even blink and the emotionless look in their eyes scared him. It was seriously as if they were in some sort of hypnotic trance.

"Wow, do you think it's a trap?" he said to both Ohgi and Sugiyama, though neither were listening; being focused on the figure.

"Well, was that you in Shinjuku?" Kallen asked in a frustrated tone as the figure just stood with their back to them and did not respond to Kallen's first question, "Was that ceasefire your doing?"

The figure still did not respond.

"Hey, we're talking to you," Yoshida spoke up in a threatening tone as he was also frustrated and the condition of the passengers was beginning to terrify him.

Just then, the lights dimmed and everything seemed to become significantly darker as the figure finally turned round to face them, causing all four of them to jump out of their skin. However, it did not take them long to realise that the train had just entered a tunnel. Still, the effect was rather intimidating to say the least. The figure; as Kallen suspected wore a helmet that had a circle at the front the same colour as their cape was a white kanji symbol representing Zero inside the circle that hid their face. The bottom of the front of the helmet was a lighter shade of pink as was the outline of the cape, though not the girly sort of pink and the cape crisscrossed underneath their chin coming to two points at the side of the helmet where the cheeks should be. The four also noticed the capes high rise collar that showed the lighter shade of pink on the inside as well as the dark pink scarf round their neck and made to resemble a tie with a small blood-red orb pinned into it. The figure also wore black shoes that looked more suited for a man and trousers the same dark ping colour as their cape and circle at the front of their helmet was a light pink line streaking down each trouser leg at the cent of the outer side.

"What do you think of my tour of the settlement?" the figure asked in a voice that did not sound all that human and Kallen did not recognise it as the voice of the woman she had spoken to; in fact the voice sounded electronic… as if it was the voice of a robot.

However, it did not take long for Kallen to realise that the woman… or at least she believed it was a woman standing before them was using some kind of electronic voice alteration device.

"Your tour?" Ohgi asked with a serious expression as he was already becoming distrustful of this person.

Just who in their right mind would dress like that and hide their face behind a mask? How could they possibly trust this person if they did not who they were?

"Uh come on, it's no way it's this joker," Sugiyama said turning his head to face Ohgi as he had similar thoughts running through his head, "We can't even tell if they're a dude or a chick."

"I wanted you to fully grasp the two," the figure went on, ignoring Sugiyama's statement as they reached out their left arm and raised it up to the side, "The settlement and the ghetto."

The figure then repeated the process with their right hand as they spoke, opening up the cape to reveal a rather dark pink coat with a lighter pink outline highlighting the front at the centre and a lighter pink inside where it was folded back at the chest and wrists with white wavy lined markings as well as dark pink gloves on their hands. If not for the bulge on the figure's chest then it would have been impossible to distinguish the figure's gender or could mistake the figure for a man, but the bulge in the chest confirmed that they were indeed talking to a woman. Despite the abundance of pink; it was not the girly sort of pink, and the lighter shade was still somewhat dark. All in all, the dark shades of the woman's outfit made her rather intimidating, especially since the outfit itself looked as if it was more suited for a man.

"Yeah, we know," Ohgi said as he came up, walking in front of Kallen, "There's a difference between us and them; a very harsh one and that's why we resist them."

"You're wrong," the figure replied, causing Ohgi to stare at them in surprise, "Britannia will not fall to terrorism."

"Fall?" Ohgi muttered quietly, wondering just what this mysterious figure was talking about.

"It's little better than childish nuisance," the figure went on.

"What was that?" Yoshida challenged, glaring at the figure as he clenched his fist, feeling that he had just been insulted, "You callin' us a bunch a kids?"

"You should know your enemy," the figure went on, apparently unfazed by Yoshida's comment, "It is not people; but the very corruption of Britannia itself. It is a war you must wage, but not on the innocent. What you have accomplished so far is no better than fleas biting at the Emperor's fingertips."

* * *

"Take up your swords and fight for justice," Euphemia stated in a serious tone from inside the costume that the tailor had remade for her.

* * *

Kallen growled, glaring at the figure as she felt somewhat insulted, though she had to admit that this person did have a point, but they did not have to state it in a way that sounded insulting.

"Oh please, that's all easy enough to say, isn't it?" she lashed out furiously, "Hiding behind that mask and you speak of fighting for justice when you spared one of Britannia's princes. Why should we even trust you?"

"She's right," Yoshida spoke up in agreement, "Lose the mask and tell us why you spared Clovis."

"Right, are you going to show us your face or not?" Ohgi said in agreement.

The figure turned towards Kallen.

"I know all about you Kallen Stadtfeld or is it Kallen Kouzuki?" she said with a hint of seriousness in her voice that was not hidden by the voice changer, causing Kallen to glare furiously at her as she clenched her fist, "Tell me, did you choose your parents?"

"Of course not!" Kallen snapped furiously as she restrained herself from charging at the figure so she could beat the living daylights out of her.

"And you think Clovis did?" the figure shot back, causing all four onlookers to stop and think as the amount of venom and hatred in her voice was quite evident, "You think that that blind paraplegic middle school student you met two days ago chose to be born a Britannian and to Britannian parents? Did you think that her half-sister, whom you tried to kill when you mistook her for me chose her parents?"

Kallen flinched at this, noticing the venom and hatred laced in her voice despite the electronic voice changer masking her true voice. The voice changer did nothing to hide emotion, Kallen realised and she had to admit that the figure did have a point. She did not choose her parents and neither did Nunnally or Euphemia, though she had noticed an increase in the figure's fury when she mentioned Euphemia and had noticed her clenching her fists and apparently, Ohgi, Sugiyama and Yoshida all came to similar realisations.

"As for why I spared Clovis… I honestly thought he was dead," the figure went on, apparently deciding to move on, "I got careless and he must have been playing possum, though I could have gone after him as soon as I discovered he was still alive, but I'm not interested in dealing with puppets… especially since I severed the strings and dealt with the puppeteer."

"Puppeteer?" Ohgi asked as he gave the figure a confused look, "Just what do you mean?"

"After I dealt with Clovis, Rochelle li Britannia revealed to me that Clovis was her puppet and that she was the one who truly held power in Japan," the figure explained simply, "Operation: Eleven Genocide, Rochelle's plan to wipe the Japanese off the face of the Earth, that was what Shinjuku was all about. You guys stealing that capsule and making it to the ghetto as part of her plan. She would then have the entire ghetto destroyed, hoping to provoke an uprising among the Japanese so she could exterminate them all. Clovis would have rather it all ended without bloodshed, but apparently he was too scared of Rochelle to act against her, so I decided to spare him since his reign as viceroy is over anyway; but mark my words, if he causes trouble on his own; I will not spare him again."

That last part was said with such seriousness and such determination that it left little doubt in their minds that she was being serious, though the fact that the whole poison gas heist had been a setup hit them rather hard and they felt as if someone had just kicked them in the stomach.

"But why would she do that?" Sugiyama asked, clearly at a loss and the other three nodded in agreement.

"Because her youngest daughter was a fatality in the war and she believed that the Japanese people were at fault and that they all had to pay," the figure replied truthfully, "Her daughter was sent over here as a political bargaining chip before talks between Japan and Britannia broke down and apparently she was a casualty of war."

"Okay, supposing all this is true," Ohgi said, deciding that for now, they had no choice but to believe this mysterious woman, "However, we'd still like to know who you are. Lose the mask and then perhaps we may trust you."

There was a brief silence as the figure clearly was considering her options.

"Very well," she said, seemingly in defeat, but her next statement proved that wrong, "But rather than my face, bare witness to my power. If I deliver to you the impossible, then I might have earned your trust."

* * *

From inside the costume, Euphemia smiled as it appeared that Ohgi and the others relented. They wanted to see her face, but the fact was, she was a Britannian and she knew that showing her face to them would make it even harder for her to earn their trust than if she kept her face hidden, plus Kallen had already met her and she knew that it would create all sorts of problems as she had already convinced Kallen that she and the figure she was currently posing as were two entirely different people and remembering that hothead that had caused Kallen and her male accomplice in the truck to be discovered too early when they stole C.C.'s capsule, she knew that if she revealed herself, he would no doubt have the excuse he needed to display his dislike for her to its fullest as it was apparent that he did not like her because she had been the one to end the crisis and not him. She supposed that it was fortunate in a way that he was too distrusting and wanted credit for himself to help otherwise she knew that the plan she had thought up would be ruined. In any case, at least the leader of the terrorists was open-minded enough to give her a chance.

"Okay then," she thought to herself, "The first members of my army that will obliterate Britannia are in place, though I'm going to need a lot more than this, but still, it'll suffice for saving Suzaku at least."

* * *

Meanwhile in an unknown underground location, Kyoshiro Tohdoh was kneeling in front of an old Japanese katana sword still in its scabbard with his eyes closed in what appeared to be an old martial arts dojo and hung up on the wall behind him was the flag of Japan. This was the base of the Japan Liberation Front; the largest anti-Britannian resistance group in "Area Eleven", formed of Japan's old military personnel and currently, they were arguing over whether or not they should help Suzaku Kururugi.

"He killed an Imperial Consort of the Emperor of Britannia himself," someone stated as the highest ranking members of the JLF were situated in front of Tohdoh as they debated the issue of Suzaku's execution, "Suzaku Kururugi should be treated as a hero."

"But he's an Honorary Britannian, not to mention he spared Prince Clovis," someone else pointed out as Tohdoh listened intently from his state of meditation.

"Prime Minister Kururugi was his father," the first man countered.

"So what?" the second man scoffed, "The bastard gave up Japan. Our people don't know that about him."

"The whole Shinjuku business was the work of Kouzuki's group, wasn't it?" a third, older man; the JLF's leader, General Katase Tatewaki said, trying to defuse the situation.

"Yes sir, they're being led by a man called Ohgi at the present," the second man stated.

"Hmm," Katase grunted with a serious expression on his face, "Has Kururugi's family said anything?"

"No sir, they broke contact with him once he joined the military," the second man, who was situated in front of him said as Katase turned to look at Tohdoh.

"Tohdoh, what are your thoughts?" he asked curiously, knowing that Tohdoh had once been an instructor to Suzaku during his childhood at the Kururugi Shrine.

"We should not become involved with this public execution," Tohdoh said seriously as he opened his eyes.

"That's cowardly," the second man who had spoken, Kusakabe stated in a somewhat shocked and outraged tone, "You're Tohdoh the Miracle Worker, right?"

"There is a difference between miracles and foolhardiness," Tohdoh replied in a neutral tone, though inwardly he was deeply conflicted.

As someone who had instructed Suzaku in the past, he was one of few people who could honestly understand him and why he joined the Britannians and he knew that Suzaku's "betrayal" of Japan was not just a case of him joining the winning side. Tohdoh knew that the war had traumatised Suzaku somewhat and seeing the bodies of the dead Japanese civilians who had been unfortunate enough to get caught in the crossfire along with the dead bodies of soldiers from both sides had quite an effect on him; not to mention, his father had been willing to throw every single Japanese man, woman and child to their deaths before he even considered surrender. Tohdoh knew that Prime Minister Kururugi was mad. He'd sooner see the genocide of the Japanese people rather than surrender and Tohdoh suspected that the official reports of him resorting to seppuku were nothing more than fabrications since he knew that the Prime Minister was not one to throw his life away and suspected that either Suzaku or one of his aides had killed him, though Tohdoh knew that Suzaku was the most likely suspect due to the trauma he had suffered and the fact that he and his father never did see eye to eye since the death of the Prime Minister's wife immediately after Suzaku was born.

* * *

Meanwhile, Suzaku sat in a holding cell as Lloyd Asplund came in and watched him through a slightly green tinged pane in the wall.

"Congratulations," he said, causing Suzaku to look up at him after spending hours looking down at the floor having long she resided himself to his fate, "Those two you asked me about weren't on the list of casualties."

"That's good to hear," Suzaku replied with a small smile; relieved that Euphemia and that mysterious girl, whoever she was had managed to escape the disaster in Shinjuku.

"Not much luck on your end though," Lloyd went on, sounding genuinely unhappy and frustrated, "You may be getting a trial, but no one is pulling for you certainly."

"But the courts are where truth comes to light," Suzaku protested with a small glimmer of hope highlighted in the determination in his voice.

"I expect there'll be more smoke and mirrors than anything," Lloyd answered honestly, making it quite evident to Suzaku that he was not happy with the entire situation, "The truth is scarce of late, I believe they've already decided that you're guilty. This "trial" is nothing more than a farce thought up just to add insult to injury."

"If that's how the world works, then so be it," Suzaku said in a serious, yet resided tone as he decided that he would embrace his fate, though he was clearly not happy with Lloyd's reply, "I have no regrets."

"I'm sorry Suzaku," Lloyd said apologetically with genuine sympathy in his voice, "As much as I would like to help you, I can't. True, Cecile and I along with my team are legitimate alibis since you were piloting the Lancelot when Lady Rochelle was assassinated, but our testimony has been deemed inadmissible."

That rather angered him somewhat. Suzaku piloting the Lancelot would probably only add to the reasons that the Purists had as to why they felt that Suzaku had to die. The Lancelot was a highly advanced Knightmare Frame and an ordinary pilot just could not handle its intensity. Suzaku on the other hand turned out to be an ace pilot; maybe even matching if not rivalling Princess Cornelia, the "Witch of Britannia" and "Goddess of Victory" herself and it was his first time piloting an actual Knightmare Frame and yet, he was able to pull off moves that even many of Britannia's most skilled pilots would sell one of their limbs just to learn how to perform them. Unfortunately, Suzaku was not Britannian and Lloyd knew that the Purists just could not stand having a non-Britannian regardless of where they came from; whether from a conquered area or not showing their people up and in their minds, Suzaku had done just that and thus saw him as a threat to Britannia's image that had to be eliminated.

"Damn Purists," Lloyd growled to himself, "I wish some scandal would just drop on their doorstep that would damage their reputation beyond repair."

* * *

Meanwhile, Euphemia emerged from a public restroom near the station of Okubo after the meeting with Ohgi, Kallen and the two they had brought with them came to an end. After they had left the train, Euphemia had released the passengers from her Geass, leaving them all in a state of confusion and many had developed the notion that they had fallen asleep somehow. Luckily, the resistance group members were long gone and Euphemia had managed to slip away unnoticed as the passengers all tried to draw their own conclusions as to why there was a gap in their memories.

Now Euphemia was on her way back to the station to get the train back to the previous station. Her costume was in a duffle bag that she had brought with her and she was wearing an outfit identical to the one she had given Kallen after that whole champagne mishap. However as she neared the station entrance, she noticed a familiar figure leaning against a lamppost to the left of the station entrance wearing a pair of red shoes that Euphemia immediately recognised as belonging to her and a long grey trench coat that she also recognised from one of the costumes that Milly had forced her to wear at one of the academy's cross-dressers balls.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Euphemia asked in a hushed, yet frustrated tone as she glared at the figure, "C.C., I seriously don't have time for this."

"What, did they refuse you?" C.C. asked curiously as she stood upright and turned to face Euphemia, "Funny, I thought that they'd at least give you a chance."

"They did," Euphemia replied, shaking her head as she continued to glare at the immortal girl, "I'm not happy that you're here though and wearing my stuff no less."

"I can't possibly go out in that restraining outfit and this was all I could find. Just where do you keep your clothes, in an alternative dimension or something because I can't find any."

"What do you…?" Euphemia started to ask before trailing off as her face paled as she gave C.C. a somewhat fearful look, "Just what have you got on under there?"

C.C. responded by undoing the front of the trench coat and briefly opened it up, causing Euphemia's eyes to bulge out of their sockets in shock and disbelief so much so that C.C. would not have been in the least bit surprised if they fell out onto the ground. She then closed up the trench coat as Euphemia's cheeks turned a bright shade of red, so much so that she was like a red traffic light.

"H-h-h-h-have y-y-you no d-d-d-decency?" she stuttered in shock before managing to regain her composure, "What on Earth are you thinking?"

"I do believe that you're blushing Miss Lamperouge," C.C. replied in a somewhat taunting tone, "Does my naked body excite you?"

"LIKE HELLL IT DOES!" Euphemia shouted loudly in an outraged tone before her voice became lower than a whisper, "I don't swing that way. I'm just furious that you're here and taking the piss out of me. I thought I told you to stay in my room."

"I was bored," C.C. replied dismissively with a shrug, "And besides, I wasn't serious before."

"Though I'd have to disagree about you claiming not to be sexually attracted to other girls," she added in her thoughts.

"I know that, but that wasn't very funny," Euphemia replied in a frustratingly strained tone as she tried to keep her voice from getting too loud as she did not want to draw attention to herself, "Indecent exposure is an offence and you can get arrested for it."

"I'll keep that in mind," C.C. dismissively stated as she waved it off, causing Euphemia to groan.

"Listen you," she said and she grabbed took a handful of C.C.'s hair and gave it a hard yank to make sure that the immortal girl was staring at her, which caused C.C to wince in pain, "I don't have time for your strange games right now. I'm in the middle of plotting to rescue my oldest friend from his execution as well as bring down the Purist Faction, so unless you've got something good to say to me, I suggest you remain quiet and don't annoy me."

"So what's the name of this masked marauder?" C.C. asked curiously, deciding that it was best not to mess with Euphemia any further, considering her mood.

"Watch tomorrows broadcast of Suzaku's execution and you'll find out," Euphemia replied as she released C.C.'s hair from her grip with a smirk on her face, "And I'll give you a hint. It's also a name that some Japanese parents can give their daughters and it also represents nothing."

"I'm afraid I don't have enough of an understanding of the Japanese language to know what it is," C.C. replied with a sigh.

"You'll find out in due time Shi Tsu-chan," Euphemia replied as she decided to use this knowledge to gain a measure of revenge against C.C. for all the times she annoyed her in the past and it worked as C.C. gave her a confused look; mainly because of the honorific chan suffix.

* * *

However, unbeknownst to either of them, Kallen had seen them both and though she did not hear their conversation, she could not help but wonder just who the green-haired girl with Euphemia was; especially after studying her choice of clothing and deducing that she was probably wearing nothing underneath that trench coat. However, she immediately shook her head and dismissed it, again wondering why she was so concerned over something that was clearly none of her business just like when she became curious over Shirley's creepy obsession over Euphemia. However, she could not help but wonder about Euphemia for some reason. Just who was that girl and why did she seem to have a hatred for her own people as well as another girl chasing after her, despite that said girl's constant denials over that fact and just who was this new girl?

"Damn it," she thought as she followed them into the station as she to was going back to the previous stop to get ready for her part, "Why am I even thinking about these things? They're none of my business and besides, it's between Britannians and I hate Britannians."

What a lie that was now becoming. Kallen just could not hate all Britannians anymore; not after meeting Nunnally. She did not know why, but Nunnally seemed to have unwittingly had an effect on her viewpoint on Britannians. Sure, many of them were still arrogant obnoxious foreigner-hating idiots, but there were also those among them who did not get with the in-crowd like Nunnally and Euphemia. However, Kallen still had a great distrust of Britannians that would take a long time to dissipate.

* * *

**Author's Notes **– Another chapter done finally. Sorry for the long awaited update, but with Christmas and all, I got sidetracked and I know it's a bit late as I was hoping to have this up by Christmas Day, but what the hay… Merry Christmas. Anyway to start off, I know I said I would reveal the name of Euphemia's alter ego this chapter, but it took longer than I expected. However, I'm sure you'll have all guessed it by now. I've given clues and hints. However, the name will be revealed next chapter. Heck, I'm even going to have it as part of the next chapter's title. Anyway, as for Tohdoh speculating on Genbu's death; I'll have you know that his deductions of Suzaku killing him, as true as they is just his speculation based on what he had seen and knows of both Genbu and Suzaku. As for Euphemia and the resistance group… will they succeed in rescuing Suzaku and what will Suzaku think of all of this. On a side-note, Anya and Rolo will both be coming to Ashford Academy; Rolo after Suzaku's rescued from execution and Anya after Rochelle's funeral and I'm sure you'll be interested to see what happens.


	14. Enter Rei

**Code Geass – Euphemia of the Revelation**

**Enter Rei**

**Disclaimer **– Code Geass is the property of Sunrise, Bandai Entertainment and Ichiro Okouchi, so I don't own anything afflicted with Code Geass.

* * *

**Warnings **– Strong language, strong violence, Euphemia OOC (obviously), yuri, possible lemons in later chapters (unsure)

* * *

It was night in the Tokyo Settlement and people lined the streets to witness the procession that would be transporting Suzaku Kururugi to his court martial as he had been arrested for the murder of the Imperial Consort, Rochelle li Britannia as well as injuring Prince Clovis la Britannia, Third Prince of Britannia. The lights in the settlement shone brightly illuminating the sky in a fiery reddish orange colour like a sunset in the horizon. However, the people did not care much for the lighting as they had only come to see the face of the one who had robbed their beloved Imperial Consort of her life and injured their beloved Prince.

"Any moment," a TV reporter who was covering the event said as the streets had also been lined with TV cameras that were providing live footage to televisions across "Area Eleven" as well as the Britannian homeland for all those who were unable to make it, "Any moment now… It's a sight to see; the throngs lining the route; all of them waiting on bated breath."

* * *

At Ashford Academy in the student council meeting room, Milly, Shirley Nina and Rivalz were in front of a big TV with a brown frame. Rivalz sat Indian style on the table near the TV with Shirley sitting off to his left. Milly stood at the far end of the table and Nina, as usual sat at her usual place off to the side, though she had her attention focused on the TV. None of them said a word to each other as they were all focused on the TV, curious as to what was going to happen.

"Waiting for the accused murderer of Lady Rochelle and injurer of Prince Clovis to pass by," the reporter went on in his usual professional tone as since he was supposed to keep his personal views to himself and maintain a neutral outlook on the whole event, "Honorary Britannian and former Eleven, Suzaku Kururugi."

* * *

Nunnally sat in a dark room in the Lamperouge residence with a small portable TV in her hands. The glow from the screen provided the room with some light, but not a lot. However, Nunnally did not care. Being blind for seven years, she was used to the darkness. Her world was in perpetual darkness and even though she could not see the images on the TV, she could still hear the voice of the reporter quite clearly and needless to say, she was not happy in the slightest. They were going to put the first friend that she and Euphemia had made outside their family to death for something he clearly did not do and all because the Purist Faction wanted a boost in power. It was not fair.

* * *

Meanwhile inside an Hi-TV news van situated behind the crowd, Diethard was overseeing the entire show as he stood behind two technicians sat in front of a series of screens; each one showing a different image of the route that the procession was scheduled to take.

"Camera five's a little slow," Diethard said, speaking into a small microphone attached to his right ear, "Talk to me Charles; your team been deployed yet?"

There was a moment of silence as Diethard had his hand up at the microphone, making it clear that he was talking to someone.

"What, the studio?" he went on, clearly not satisfied with whatever the person on the other end had said, "Let 'em wait. Nothing's been pushed back. Everything's going according to plan."

As the images on the screens started to change to one of the news reporter covering the event, Diethard nodded.

"Here we go," he said to the person on the other end.

* * *

Out on the streets, everyone in the crowds held their breath as the familiar purplish blue form of a Sutherland Knightmare Frame came into view at the front, leading the procession with two others behind it, one on either side of what appeared to be a float that was behind the leading Sutherland.

"I, I can see them," the reporter reported with a hint of excitement in his voice as the Sutherlands moved forwards with the float following behind, "They have the suspect. Suzaku Kururugi is headed this way."

The spectacle was spectacular to say the least. The procession had emerged into view as if coming up a hill.

* * *

Back in the news van, Diethard smirked as he pushed a button on the miniature microphone, shutting it off.

"Like clockwork," he said before his face transforming into a dissatisfied frown, "Humph, what a circus this is and I'm as corrupt as any of 'em."

He was totally dissatisfied with the situation. The whole routine had become rather repetitive and it sickened him. This was nothing knew. Diethard had assisted in providing news for people's executions; mainly captured terrorist leaders that the Britannians had decided to make an example out of in vain attempts to stop the terrorist activity. It did not work. In fact, those executions seemed to have the opposite effect and encourage the terrorists even more. Diethard knew that the terrorists who had been executed were no doubt viewed as martyrs. The Britannians seemed to believe that by making an example out of people, it would scare the masses into submitting to them. Not true, Diethard knew. In fact, it only served to encourage more and more of the "Eleven" population to resort to terrorism.

However, the difference here was that this was the execution of an Honorary Britannian that the Purists had decide to use as a scapegoat in order to abolish the Honorary Britannian system, something that Diethard did not agree with. The routine was the same as before, but this time, it was for someone who was clearly innocent. This was not really a court martial; just a show designed to humiliate Suzaku Kururugi and to add insult to injury. They had already decided that Suzaku would be found guilty regardless and it sickened Diethard that he was in on it. However, if he refused, he knew that Jeremiah would have either killed him or tortured him into submission. He knew the lengths the Purists would go to further their grasp on power. Heck, he figured that they'd even kill a member of the Imperial Family if they happened to be in their way. He would not put it past them considered the tensions between the Purists and Imperial Family.

* * *

Back on the streets, the crowds started yelling furiously with abuse ad jeers as the procession passed. A fourth Sutherland was situated behind the float and all four had their cockpits open with Jeremiah in the front Sutherland, Villetta in the Sutherland to the right, Kewell Soresi, Jeremiah's main advisor in the Sutherland on the left and a fourth member in the Sutherland at the back. On top of the float, Suzaku was in a kneeling position in his prisoner's outfit with his hands bound behind his back and wrapped in greyish brown straps over his chest and two more straps on his lower abdomen that crisscrossed at the front with a black restraining harness holding them in place. He also had a strange metal collar attached round his neck with a prod protruding from each of the four sides. Two soldiers stood on either side of him with their guns trained on him, ready to fire if he decided to try anything, but from the look on his face, it was not hard to discern that that would not be the case. Suzaku had already resided himself to his fate.

* * *

Meanwhile in an unknown location, a girl sat watching a TV from behind a cover. She remained silent even as the sound of running water was heard in the background.

"Suzaku," she whispered with a look of extreme worry on her face.

* * *

Meanwhile in the Special Corp's base Cecile was not too happy with how things were going as she sat behind Lloyd who was currently working away on the data that Suzaku had gathered for the Lancelot before he was arrested while she also worked away on a miniature computer.

"This is insane, we know that Suzaku is innocent," she protested furiously.

"The court deemed our testimony inadmissible," Lloyd said without stopping what he was doing, "There's nothing we can do. Two of our staff have already tried providing solid evidence to the public, but unfortunately they're both now dead thanks to the Purists."

"Yes, but…" Cecile started to protest.

"Is that altruism or humanitarianism?" Lloyd asked as he stopped his work and turned round on his chair to face his assistant.

"This isn't the time for a game of semantics!" Cecile snapped as she looked towards her boss, glaring at him to let him no that she was in no mood for his games.

"Not much else to do," Lloyd said with a shrug, though he was clearly unhappy at losing a major component for his latest invention, "We both know where this case is headed, don't we. We couldn't reach him at the summit. All we can do is cut our losses really. God I hate those Purebloods so much. I just wish their entire faction would just implode."

"Can't we contact the homeland?" Cecile suggested with hope in her voice.

Lloyd frowned as he shook his head.

"I'm afraid not," he said with a sigh, "The Purists have cut off all communications to the homeland. I tried to reach Prince Schneizel, but the line was severed before it could get through. We both know of the tensions between the Purists and the Imperial Family. They don't want anyone; including the Imperial Family getting in their way. I wouldn't be surprised if they were eventually planning on usurping the Imperial Family."

"But that's treason," Cecile said with a hint of fear in her voice.

If the Purists succeeded in overthrowing the Imperial Family, she shuddered to think of the consequences. Sure, their principles were more or less the same, but at least the Imperial Family were selective about the lands they conquered. The Purists on the other hand would undoubtably go on a campaign of world domination; not that the Imperial Family were not planning the same thing, but the Purists would be far more open about it and more brutal in their policies; not to mention a lot more reckless and indiscriminate.

"To them, the Imperial Family are the traitors," Lloyd said in response to her statement.

* * *

Back on the streets, Suzaku listened to the people's hateful jeering, though he remained unresponsive. If this was how things were meant to be, then he would not fight it. He had been wanting to die for seven years since that argument with his father that caused him to take the elder Kururugi's life. The reports of Genbu's suicide were all forged and untrue. The truth was, Suzaku had killed his father himself. After getting into an argument over whether or not they should surrender, Genbu had outright refused and when Suzaku pointed out that it was pointless since their people was only going out to die, Genbu had said that he would rather see the extinction of the Japanese people than surrender to the Britannians and he even threatened to kill Euphemia and Nunnally since they were no longer of any use to him.

It was then that Suzaku had snapped. He had grabbed a knife and thrust it into his father's stomach. It had been a spur of the moment thing; he saw red and acted without thinking and he did not even remember doing it. However, once he regained his senses and saw the knife still lodged in his father's stomach, he knew exactly what he had done and it did not help with the look of betrayal his father have given him, but then again, Genbu and Suzaku never really liked one another. Suzaku knew that his mother had died in childbirth after he was born and his father blamed him for her death. Those were facts that the Japanese people did not know.

Since then, Suzaku had been immersed with guilt over his father's death. Sure, it was clear that he had killed his father to defend Euphemia and Nunnally and he told himself that his father had to die as he was determined to see every man, woman and child of Japan dead rather than surrender to the Britannians. It was because of his guilt that he joined the Britannian military; that and the trauma he suffered from seeing the bodies of the dead. He wanted to change Britannia from within using peaceful means. However, if it cost him his life, then he would not complain. In his mind, he deserved death. He'd try and change Britannia, true, but he would not mind if he died in battle as he believed that in death, he would find atonement for his father's death.

* * *

Back at Ashford Academy, the student council looked on as the TV showed a close-up of Suzaku and his two guards.

"Voices of scorn, growing ever louder," the reporter's voice came from the speakers, "Voices bearing testament to a people's love of their Imperial Consort and Prince; raining their judgement down on a terrorist."

* * *

"SUZAKU!" Nunnally shouted fearfully from inside the darkened room in the Lamperouge residence holding the small TV up close to her face despite the fact she could not see, wishing that she could do something to get her friend out of this mess, but knowing that she could not; even if she was a hundred percent.

She knew that she would still have been helpless to save him even if she were able to walk and see and that feeling left her feeling rather deflated. In her current condition, there were things that she could not do by herself, which rather annoyed her. However, this time, she was faced with a situation in which she would be helpless regardless of her condition and the fact that she was in her current condition only served to amplify her feeling of helplessness by an astounding factor.

"Euphie, where are you?" she thought feeling a bit scared and wishing that her half-sister was here to reassure her that everything would be okay, despite the chances of Suzaku being found innocent were non-existent.

Still, it was nice to be reassured anyway.

* * *

Clovis snorted from his hospital room as he watched the TV coverage of Suzaku's execution. What a load of crap, he told himself. This was all just for show. It was already decided that Suzaku was going to be found guilty no matter what was said and unfortunately, the people were so consumed in their anger that they would not listen to what Suzaku had to say anyway. He was an "Eleven" and in their minds that made him guilty. It sickened Clovis to no end. The Purists had the masses wrapped round their fingers. It was like that all the people needed to hear was "We have the criminal and it's an Eleven" and they would agree no matter what the facts were.

"Close-minded fools," the injured prince muttered under his breath as he glared at the TV screen, "It's because of that close-minded attitude that we Britannians aren't well liked in the world."

* * *

Meanwhile, Euphemia was busy getting ready for her big performance as she put on her cape and walked forwards with the cape flapping upwards behind her.

* * *

Back on the streets, the procession continued to move on as the people's jeering did not stop and only got louder.

"Margrave Jeremiah, integral in settling this case will be presiding over the trial as acting consol," the reporter said as Jeremiah smirked from the back of his Sutherland as if he had heard the comment.

* * *

Back with Euphemia, she put on the gloves of her outfit as she continued to get ready.

* * *

Back on the streets, the procession continued to move uneventfully.

* * *

Euphemia made a few adjustments to her cape as she manoeuvred it into place.

* * *

At the resistance group's hideout, the terrorists minus Kallen and Ohgi were standing in front of the main TV; well all were standing aside from Tamaki who was sitting down with his arm leaning on a table.

"No way the three of them could pull this off on their own," he boasted smugly, feeling that finally this mysterious woman would be knocked down to her "true place" in life.

In truth, he was still sore about being shown up by a woman as he still believed that he should been the one who should have put an end to the Shinjuku crisis. He just could not stand the fact that it was not him who had ended it and the fact that the one who did was a woman and not a man only served to amplify his humiliation and fury. One of the things that one had to know about Shinichiro Tamaki was that he had a very chauvinistic view on life and believed that women were inferior and that their place was at home looking after their husbands. Of course, he knew better than to voice his opinions as he knew that both Kallen and Inoue, who was standing behind him to his right had proven him wrong in the past and both were more than capable of beating him up. He kept quiet, though the fact that an unknown woman had also proven his views wrong really irked him. In his mind, the resulting failure would finally show that woman just how inferior she… as least in Tamaki's mind, really was.

* * *

Euphemia continued to get ready as she held her helmeted mask above her head.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kaname Ohgi sat in the cab of a truck in a street that was below a bridge that the street where the procession was currently moving on passed over.

"She told us," Ohgi said to himself in a sceptical tone, "She said she'd make the impossible possible."

* * *

Euphemia smirked as she still had her mask above her head.

* * *

"She gave us her word," Ohgi went on, though in truth he was rather tense and did not believe that what they were doing could be done, "To save Suzaku Kururugi "

* * *

The procession continued to move with Suzaku still remaining unresponsive.

* * *

"Right, no need to turn back," Euphemia said as she brought the mask down over her head with one hand and it attached itself into place, "The die is cast."

* * *

Meanwhile, the procession continued to make its way forwards with the crowds lining either side of the street. Sutherlands lined each side of the street, acting as a barrier and preventing some of the crowd from getting close to the accused in an attempt to vent their anger out on him. It was an effective strategy as very few people would dare challenge a Knightmare bareheaded.

"Acting consol Jeremiah," a voice came over a radio situated in Jeremiah's right ear.

"What is it?" Jeremiah asked uncaringly as he was sure that it was nothing more than a minor formality.

"Vehicle approaching the main highway from third," the voice on the other end of the radio said, "We just let it through as you instructed… but…"

"Hmm, do you believe that the target could be a terrorist vehicle?" Jeremiah asked curiously as he wondered if someone had indeed decided to play hero and attempt to foil his plans.

"Well sir," the voice said in an unsure tone as it was clear he was confused, "It's Prince Clovis's car."

"The Prince's car?" Jeremiah repeated as his eyes widened in alarm.

Had Prince Clovis recovered a lot sooner than he had predicted? If that was indeed the case then he knew that he was in trouble. If Prince Clovis was here then it could only mean that he was intending to clear Suzaku's name and that put him in a tricky bind. If his plans were discovered, he knew that the Purebloods would lose their popularity and any chances he had at seizing overall power would be ruined. However, he regained his composure and smirked, deciding to treat it as if it whoever was in the car was just playing a twisted prank.

"Heh, looks like we've got a comedian," he said boastfully while hoping that he was right, "Don't worry about it; just let them through to us. There's no way Prince Clovis could've recovered this quickly. Someone's probably just having a laugh."

He then turned to face the rest of the procession and raised his hand.

"All forces halt here!" he shouted back to the others, much to Suzaku's surprise, which was the first move he had made since the procession started indicating that it was indeed a man and not a statue between the two soldiers.

* * *

Back at the terrorist hideout, the resistance group members looked on in awe as they witnessed the procession come to a halt.

"Hey, they stopped," Sugiyama said in surprise, unable to believe what was going on, "They really did."

"Heh, it's just a coincidence," Tamaki boasted smugly as in his mind, Ohgi, Kallen and the mysterious woman had already signed their death certificates.

"Yeah, but she said that Jeremiah would try to hog all the limelight and make some sort of stand about it," Yoshida spoke up.

"Coincidence," Tamaki growled in an annoyed tone as he turned to glare at his fellow resistance group member.

He'd be damned if the mysterious woman managed to pull this off. There was no way that some mysterious hussy was going to show him up and if she managed this, Tamaki did not know what he would do.

* * *

The procession had come to a halt, much to the confusion of the crowd who started to talk amongst themselves while some still shouted abuse at Suzaku.

"This is not a scheduled stop," the reporter commented with confusion evident in his voice, "Could there have been some sort of accident?"

"This is site five," a voice came, speaking into a radio to Diethard in the news van, "There's a vehicle approaching them."

* * *

Jeremiah smirked as he saw a white posh looking car with the Britannian flag situated above it approaching the procession.

"It's… it's Prince Clovis's personal transport," the reporter said in clear disbelief.

* * *

"…And it's headed straight for the cavalcade," the reporter went on as Ohgi watched the image of the car on a small built-in TV to the side.

"They're headed straight at 'em," Ohgi said in disbelief, wondering if this woman was crazy since what she was doing appeared to be suicidal, "What's she planning?"

* * *

At the hospital, Clovis's eyes widened as he saw his own car drive straight towards the convoy with a look of pure astonishment and disbelief written all over his face.

"T-t-t-that's my car," he said, completely dumbfounded, "Sons of bitches stole my car."

* * *

Inside the car, Kallen was driving straight towards the convoy dressed in a white chauffeur uniform with a clear dark visor over her eyes as she eyes bits of tape that seemed to be holding the car together. It was not really Prince Clovis's car that she was driving, but an old banger of a car with the exterior made up to look identical to Clovis's car and what Kallen feared most of all was that it would fall apart at any moment as it did not look as if it would hold together.

"Hope they can't tell it's fake," she thought rather nervously.

Just what was their mysterious ally thinking, she wondered. What she had planned was nothing short of suicide. Kallen felt that she was charging right into the lion's den. However she could not help but think back to the previous day.

* * *

**Previous day around sunset**

"I see, just you two then" the mysterious woman said as she stood in the middle of a car scrap yard atop an old truck looking down on Kallen and Ohgi; the only two who had decided to show up..

"I'm sorry," Ohgi apologised with a sigh, "We just need a little more time. If more people understood what we…"

"No," the woman in the costume said, interrupting him, "The two of you will do just fine."

Ohgi and Kallen both stared up at her in surprise.

"Come on, that's ridiculous," Kallen said; being the first to recover, "There'll be too many of them."

"With your help, clearing the task at hand will be child's play," the costumed woman replied as she reached out her arm and pointed downwards at an old banger of a car, "I'll need this by tomorrow. All that matters is the exterior."

* * *

**Present**

Kallen continued to drive towards the convoy and her nervousness grew. All she could do was trust the mysterious woman and she hoped that this woman, whoever she was knew what she was doing because she knew that there were so many things that could go wrong and that they would either end up captured or worse… killed.

"I hope you seriously know what you're doing," she thought nervously, "This is too risky as it is."

* * *

Outside, the car came to a stop a good twenty feet from the convoy.

"You dare desecrate His Highness's personal transport," Jeremiah said in an outraged tone; his voice amplified by his Sutherland's PA system, "Come outta there."

As if in response to his statement, the front of the roof seemed to catch fire; the flames moving from the centre outwards, first in a blaze before calming down and then shot up the Britannian flag, burning it into oblivion and behind it stood a cloaked masked figure wearing a dark pink cloak with a black helmet with a dark pink circle at the front with a white kanji symbol meaning Zero within the circle and the bottom of the helmet was a lighter shade of pink, though not the girlish sort of pink. All in all, this figure looked rather intimidating despite the fact they were dressed in pink… a dark shade of pink that was in no way girlish.

"Huh?" Jeremiah said, looking on in surprise as the crowds on both sides of the street followed his example and looked on in a mixture of fear and curiosity.

"Konichiwa Jeremiah-teme, I am… Rei," the figure announced as they reached a hand out of their cloak and pointed to the kanji symbol on their helmet.

The figure's voice was loud, as if amplified as the crowds heard the announcement. However, what terrified most of the people was that the voice did not sound as if it was human. It sounded electronic as if the figure was a robot and it was difficult to discern if the figure was a man or a woman.

* * *

"Rei, what's that mean?" Villetta asked herself as she sat in his Sutherland's cockpit, "Disgusting Eleven. They dare bring their filth into our glorious settlement."

She knew that the symbol adorning Rei's helmet was a Japanese symbol and the words they had spoken to Jeremiah were Japanese and that Rei was a Japanese name. However, Villetta, like many Britannians considered the language of the "Elevens" as well as their writing as filth. To speak Japanese and to be seen with something that adorned Japanese lettering were two of the many taboos in the settlements. Anything native to the conquered areas was outlawed in the settlements, even the language and alphabets. The fact that this figure, whom Villetta was guessing was an "Eleven" was going against them in such a manner, infuriated her.

* * *

Meanwhile, out on the streets the people looking up at TVs on the sides of building looked on in awe and wonder as the camera image slowly made its way up the figure's body.

"Who… who is this person?" the reporter said, unable to keep his usual neutral professional tone any longer, "This person calling themselves Rei standing before a full military convoy?"

* * *

At Ashford Academy, Rivalz leaned closer to the TV as the student council continued to watch in fascination and awe and just a hint of fear as to what this Rei person was planning.

"What is all this," he said in a quiet voice.

* * *

Nunnally still sat in the middle of the darkened room wishing that she could see as she heard what was going on through the speakers in the miniature TV.

* * *

At the terrorist hideout, the group all looked on with completely dumbfounded looks on their faces as they wondered just what this mysterious woman was playing at confronting the military head on.

"What the hell does she think she's doing?" Tamaki said, completely stumped at what the woman was planning, "Surely she's not that crazy. Damn it, she's gonna get Kallen and Ohgi both killed."

* * *

Suzaku looked on in surprise. Being Japanese himself and seeing the kanji on the Rei's helmet, he was able to guess what the figure's name meant.

"Rei… as in Zero?" he said quietly to himself, knowing that the guards would give him abuse if he raised his voice.

* * *

Inside the fake car, Kallen's nervousness only increased as she felt the increasing tension that was building in the air. She felt her entire body on the verge of shaking and gritted her teeth together in an attempt to calm down.

* * *

In the news van, the images on the screens all focused in on the mysterious figure, who was apparently called Rei.

"Who is this person calling themselves Rei?" the reporter repeated and went on in a speech as Diethard looked on in surprise and amazement.

"Rei, the Japanese meaning for Zero?" he asked himself aloud as he had studied Japanese in the past in case he was ever sent over to Japan, "Zero means nothing, so they're taking up the Japanese word for it?"

* * *

In the JFL hideout, the JFL leaders were all watching the footage on TV. Tohdoh stood behind them all leaning against a wooden support beam with the point of his katana sword, still in its scabbard on the ground and his hands resting on top of the hilt.

"Are we gazing on a terrorist?" the reporter went on, "Certainly not the wisest if such is the case."

* * *

"Hey you, you stole my friggin' car!" Clovis shouted from his bed, "I know you mean well, but keep my car out of it!"

"Please calm down Your Highness, you're disturbing the other patients," a nurse pleaded as she came into the room through the door.

* * *

Back on the street, Suzaku continued to study Rei in wonder and curiosity.

"It he… an Eleven?" he thought to himself, though he was unable to tell in this person was a man or a woman, but he assumed that it was a man since in all his experiences, he hardly came across women that were daring enough to try something like this.

* * *

"Now to return the favour Suzaku," Euphemia thought from inside her Rei costume as she moved her to stare at him and noticed how resided he looked and noticed a bruise on his right cheek, indicating that he had been beaten and that caused her blood to boil.

* * *

Jeremiah looked on impatiently as he took out a gun from his waist and pointed it into the air.

"I've seen enough Rei or whatever you call yourself," he said impatiently, "This little show of yours is over."

He then followed up his statement by firing the gun into the air and then four Sutherlands dropped down from the air as four Knightmare VTOLs had been circling above just in case something like this happened.

* * *

Inside the car, Kallen gasped fearfully as she hurriedly tried to search for a means of escape. In truth, she was half-tempted to just drive off as she was close to panicking, but unfortunately, the four new Sutherlands surrounding the car had their assault rifles trained on the car making an escape impossible.

"We're done for," was all Kallen could think and just when she was starting to realise that there were some good Britannians in the world, it was all coming to an end.

* * *

Outside, the wind created by the Sutherlands' descent caused Rei's cloak to wave in the air, but Rei did not flinch nor did she show any signs that she was afraid either, which angered Jeremiah.

"First thing's first," he said, keeping his tone calm and professional, "Why don't you lose that mask? I really can't stand the sight of that filthy symbol."

Rei brought her hand up to the front of her mask as if she had agreed to comply with Jeremiah's demand, but then she reached her arm up into the air and clicked her fingers and the wall behind her as well as the rest of the top of the roof fell apart revealing a huge black dome shaped capsule, causing Jeremiah to gasp.

"What in the…?" he said is fearful surprise, knowing that it was the capsule that the terrorists had stolen before the whole Shinjuku affair.

"Jeremiah, be careful!" Villetta called from her Sutherland, "He's got the…"

* * *

"Yes Jeremiah," Euphemia thought from inside the costume with a smirk as she remembered witnessing C.C. when she first emerged from the capsule, "You never saw inside this thing, so you assume it holds poison gas."

* * *

"Wait, you don't understand!" Suzaku tried to call out, but the prods of the collar he was wear round his neck started to emit blue sparks of electricity and gave him an electrical shock.

That was the collar's main purpose. It was put in place to prevent him from speaking in case he gained sympathy… not that the Purists expected him to get any sympathy from the masses. Still, the Purists were leaving nothing to chance. If someone did indeed sympathise with him and discovered the truth, it could cause the Purists' plans to unravel and they would not have that. Still, the people would not listen anyway. They were too caught up in their anger and hatred of "Elevens" to care about the truth. Give the people an "Eleven" as a criminal and they don't want to hear about anything else.

"Can all of you watching at home see this?" the reporter said as the cameras continued to provide coverage of what was unfolding, "It's some sort of device, although its purpose is unclear. Stay with us and we'll see if this so-called terrorist has anything to say."

* * *

"You bastard," Jeremiah growled dangerously as he glared at Rei, assuming that she was a man and believing that his plans were about to go up in flames, "He's taken every Britannian here hostage… and he's done it without them even knowing it."

In anger, he brought his gun forward and pointed it at Rei.

* * *

"You intend to shoot," Diethard heard Rei say in a mocking tone, "I think you know full well…"

"Camera six, bring up the sound and get that camera right in his face," Diethard demanded over the rest of Rei's speech.

"But sir, it's too hairy out hear," the voice of camera six's cameraman replied over the radio.

"Gah, amateurs," Diethard growled as he turned and quickly walked towards the door, grabbing a camcorder that was lying off to the side.

* * *

Back outside, the wind blew, causing Rei's cloak to blow in the air as Jeremiah groaned in dissatisfied defeat.

"Fine, what are your demands?" he asked in a furiously calm voice.

"An exchange," Rei replied in that frighteningly inhuman electronic voice, though most had also guessed that it was due to a voice changer, "This for Kururugi… and by the way, for the record, I'm not a man. I'm a woman."

"A woman?" Jeremiah said with a look of pure disbelief on his face as he noticed Rei puff out her chest as if trying to show her breasts to emphasise her point, which worked as Jeremiah did notice the bulge in her chest area, though as Jeremiah thought about it, he found himself not all that surprised by this revelation since he remembered hearing a female voice denounce him and his faction after he was shot at by a hijacked Sutherland while he was chasing that one-armed Glasgow back in Shinjuku.

"I believe I said, I wanted an exchange," Rei said after she was finished showing off, "Give me Kururugi and I'll give you this back."

"Like hell," Jeremiah said as his eye travelled back to where Suzaku was situated, "He's charged with high treason for murdering an Imperial Consort as well as trying to kill a prince. I can't hand him over."

"No, you're mistaken Jeremiah," Rei replied with a hint of fury evident in her voice as she reached into the coat of her outfit, "He's no murderer."

* * *

Meanwhile, Diethard came running, finding a spot next to one of the Sutherlands watching over the crowds and brought the camcorder up and zoomed in on Rei and at the same came all TV images switched to Diethard's close-up shot of Rei.

* * *

"The man… or rather woman that killed Rochelle li Britannia and tried to kill Clovis was… myself," Rei finished and she removed her hand from the inside of her coat and revealed a hexagonal ruby attached to a silver necklace… the necklace that everyone knew that Rochelle always wore and it caused everyone present to gasp.

Not only had the real culprit revealed themselves, but they had also provided proof that they were indeed the real culprit as the only way they could possibly have that necklace in their possession was if they had come into contact with Rochelle herself.

Needless to say, the crowds all gasped in shock at this revelation and then all started to talk amongst themselves.

* * *

From his vantage point, Diethard looked on in amazement as the corners of his lips twisted into a rather excited grin. This was definitely something new and something worth documenting. No one had ever tried this before and Diethard was in need of a good story that was not the same old banter over and over again. Perhaps this mysterious masked female was just the jumpstart he was looking for. If he could document whatever this Rei was planning, it would undoubtably prove to the Britannian people that what they were seeing on the news nowadays was not really news at all, but just the same old thing over and over with a different cast each time.

* * *

At the Special Corp base, both Lloyd and Cecile watched from a window displayed on Cecile's mini-computer.

"Unbelievable," Cecile said with relief evident in her voice; relief that someone had finally managed to get proof that Suzaku was innocent out into the public domain and she did not care who it was.

"The real culprit, eh?" Lloyd said in fascination, unable to believe that the real murderer had the guts to come forward and not only that; but provide proof that it was them that did it, thus Suzaku would be released and he'd have his Lancelot's pilot back and what excited him most of all was that the Purists were no doubt going to get what was coming to them.

* * *

At the JFL base, the JFL members looked on in amazement and Tohdoh was now standing facing the TV with his katana sword in his hand, wondering just what was going on.

"What?" the reporter said in absolute disbelief before managing to regain his composure, "What does this mean? This masked woman, as she claims to be called Rei… no, we can't be sure who she is, but in any case, she claims to be the real assassin and has even provided proof of her guilt."

* * *

At Ashford Academy, the student council continued to watch, stunned that these revelations as Rei produced Rochelle's necklace.

"So where does this leave the current suspect?" the reporter went on, "Private Kururugi?"

* * *

At the hospital, Clovis's eyes widened in shock as he witnessed Rei produced Rochelle's necklace as he remembered that Euphemia had taken it after she had killed Rochelle and Clovis's eyes widened even further as he came to a startling realisation.

"Oh my… Euphie…" he thought before trailing off, "No… please tell that you're not foolish enough to…"

If his hunch was correct, then it would mean that Rei was in reality his little half-sister. He had already deduced that the poison gas in the capsule was fake as he knew that it had contained C.C. and it was another thing that led him to suspect that Euphemia was Rei as she knew about the capsule and probably knew where it was located down in the old subway system beneath the Shinjuku Ghetto.

"Euphie," he thought fearfully, "Oh Euphie, what has become of you?"

* * *

Ohgi tensed up from his position inside the cab of the truck beneath the bridge as he saw what was transpiring on the TV.

"Ah crap, there's no way outta this," he said, fearing for Kallen's safety as he knew that since he had not revealed himself yet, he would get away, but Kallen would not since she was Rei's "chauffeur" and if Kallen died, Ohgi would never forgive himself as he had promised Naoto that he would take of her.

* * *

Inside the fake car, Kallen was almost at breaking point as the temptation to just drive off in a panic increased; the only thing stopping her was the fact that she knew that if she tried to drive of, she'd get both herself and Rei killed and she hoped that Rei had a plan for this as she could see no possible way to get out of this alive. However, Rei had said that she would make the impossible possible and Kallen knew that if she wanted to live, she had no choice but to put her faith in Rei and hope that it was not misplaced. However, her panic was starting to overpower her and it was becoming harder for her to resist the urge to abandon the operation and run away.

"We are so screwed," she said to herself, knowing that it would take a miracle to save them and she doubted that Kyoshiro Tohdoh, Tohdoh of Miracles would waste his time on them.

* * *

"For a single Japanese… that's right, Japanese; not Eleven, you'll save scores of precious Britannians," Rei went on from atop the roof of the fake car, practically spitting the word "Eleven" with malice and venom, "I find that to be a bargain."

* * *

Meanwhile, Diethard continued to aim the camcorder at Rei and zoomed in even closer and then zoomed out a bit with a rather excited smile on his face.

"This is all one big performance to her," he thought rather excitedly as he knew that he had just the break he was looking for.

* * *

"She's mad I tell you!" Jeremiah snapped in pure absolute fury, knowing that his plans to abolish the Honorary Britannian system had just been shot to Hell, but figured that perhaps he could still salvage the situation and still bring it to a swift conclusion as Rei had no means of escape and if she was indeed the real culprit, he could still salvage some of his plan, "Disguising her truck as His Highness's. You'll pay the price for mocking the crown."

* * *

The Sutherlands surrounding the fake car aimed their assault rifles at Rei, ready to fire, but Rei still did not flinch, which only angered Jeremiah even further.

"Careful, you don't wish the public to learn of Orange, do you?" Rei warned sternly.

* * *

Jeremiah gave Rei a confused look, wondering just what on Earth she was talking about.

* * *

Apparently, the two soldiers standing guard over Suzaku were also equally as confused.

"Orange, what's she talking about?" the guard on Suzaku's left asked his companion.

"I dunno," the other guard replied in an equally confused tone.

* * *

Rei then tapped the back of her foot down on the top of the roof of the car and it started to drive closer to the convoy and a rather confused Jeremiah.

"If I die, it'll all go public," Rei went on in the same stern tone as before, "So I suggest you think before you act. I you don't want that to happen…"

* * *

"What are you talking about?" the dumbfounded Margrave asked as his rage returned and his tone became harshly demanding, "What is all this?"

* * *

In response to this, part of Rei's helmet slid inside the rest, revealing her left eye and Jeremiah noticed a reddish orange bird-like insignia appear in the iris.

"You'll do everything in your power to let us go," Rei went on in a tone of absolute authority that expected no defiance, "Your prisoner as well."

* * *

The next thing Jeremiah knew was that the bird like insignia within Rei's eye appeared to flap and then he felt a strange sensation enter his right eye.

* * *

Villetta was looking on, wondering just what was going on and could not believe just how in the world their plans had started to fall apart. Of course, she had a feeling that something was going to happen, but she never expected the true culprit to come forward in what appeared to be a suicidal fashion as she knew that only an idiot would dare challenge a full military convoy head on and announce their presence in such a boastful manner. Just what was this woman thinking? Surely she was not that stupid. However, Viletta noticed the part of the helmet reveal the left eye and gasped when she saw the bird-like insignia in Rei's eye.

"What in the…?" she gasped to herself as she remembered the blue colour of the female student she had run into back in the Shinjuku Ghetto before she lost her Sutherland, "No way… it couldn't be… could it…?"

She tried to remember back when she encountered that student and her friend in the restraining suit. She remembered the student having the same blue eye colour as Rei's eye, but unfortunately, her memory before losing her Sutherland was still fairly hazy. She could not remember clearly what that student had looked like, but she knew that her eyes had been blue and she also felt a strange sense of déjà vu upon noticing that bird-like insignia in Rei's eye. If her suspicions were correct, then it would mean that the woman in the costume was the student from Shinjuku, but Villetta really could not be sure as her memory of that incident was not a hundred percent.

"It has to be coincidence," she told herself as she shook her head dismissing her suspicions, unable to believe that a Britannian was capable of such an act of treason against the Imperial Family, "Blue is a common eye colour after all. I'm probably still jittery from that experience in Shinjuku."

* * *

Meanwhile, back with Rei and Jeremiah, Jeremiah remained silent for a few moments as he tensed up and then calmed down.

"Right, understood," he said to Rei, totally submitting to her commands as he turned back to face the two guards watching over Suzaku, "You there, release the prisoner."

* * *

Inside the car, Kallen gasped in astonished surprise and shock upon hearing Jeremiah's statement. Just what the hell was going on? How did Rei manage to do that? What was so important about this "Orange" thing? Was it really that important to Jeremiah that he was willing to submit to Rei's demands rather than risk it go public?

* * *

"What on Earth are you doing my Lord?" Villetta said in alarmed shock as she stood up and placed her hands on top of the head of her Sutherland, though she could not help but remember her experience of memory loss back in the Shinjuku Ghetto.

"Get that man over here!" Jeremiah said in a rather harsh and demanding tone, totally ignoring his second-in-command and causing her to gasp in confusion.

* * *

The two soldiers standing guard over Suzaku were at a loss, wondering whether or not to comply with Jeremiah's command.

"Should we?" the one on the left asked.

"But…" the one on the right started to say.

"Hand him over!" Jeremiah's harsh-toned voice came, cutting off whatever it was he was going to say, "Nobody gets in his way."

The Sutherland on the left of the convoy wheeled up beside Jeremiah's.

"What are you thinking?" the pilot, Kewell Soresi asked with confusion and a hint of fury in his voice, "You can't do this."

"Lord Kewell," Jeremiah replied, glaring at his advisor furiously, "This is an order."

* * *

Meanwhile, Lloyd and Cecile continued to watch the events unfold on Cecile's mini-computer with excited curiosity. They were excited that Suzaku was now officially of the hook and not only that; but it seemed as if the Purists were now going to be involved in a scandal that could potentially tear them apart. In truth, Lloyd did not have much love for the Purist Faction as their views that only Britannian talent should be salvaged was at odds with his own views in which talent should be salvaged regardless of whether it was Britannian or not. This was turning out to be a rather exciting event indeed. Not only was their number-one pilot being released, but if all went the way Lloyd figured it would go, then the Purists and their power hold over "Area Eleven" were finished for good.

"It's hard to tell what's happening from here," the reporter commented in anticipation, "But it seems that Kururugi's release has been brokered.

* * *

Back on the streets, the crowds were now all talking amongst themselves rather loudly as Suzaku was let out of his restraints and allowed to walk towards Rei, who came walking towards him, though it was clear that the people in the crowds were not too happy about this and were still confused as to what was going on.

"So who the hell are you?" Suzaku spoke up after he and Rei met up before the collar round his neck gave him another shock, causing hi to wince in pain.

"As I thought, they didn't allow you to speak," Rei said with evident fury in her voice as Kallen, who had gotten out of the car came walking up behind her.

* * *

Meanwhile, below the bridge, Ohgi pulled a lever inside the cab and suddenly the underside of the cab sprouted a pair of legs and a pair of arms as it transformed into a non-combat oriented Knightmare Frame; the MR-1.

* * *

Meanwhile, Villetta moved to close the back of her cockpit as she decided that she would take matters into her own hands and stop them herself. Not that she was against her superior or anything, but she knew that if Rei managed to get away then the Purists would be in deep trouble and she would not have that under any circumstances and would even defy orders to ensure that her faction would not suffer.

"If they get away, we'll lose everything," she said in a panicked tone as she knew what the consequences would be.

After all, they had used an innocent man as a scapegoat knowing that he was innocent in an attempt to seize more power. No doubt this incident would be investigated and if that happened, the Purist Faction's hold on power would be forever out of their reach as Villetta knew that the Imperial Family would not let this go unpunished and worse, the Purists would lose their popularity and many may start to suspect that it was all just one big show to undermine the Imperial Family and such an act would be seen as treason. There was no way Villetta would let that happen. If they could salvage the situation then perhaps an investigation could be avoided.

* * *

Kallen walked up beside Rei with a neutral look on her face.

"It's time to go Rei," she said, still at a loss to explain just how Rei had managed all this.

A few minutes ago, it seemed that Rei had just signed their death warrants and now for some inexplicable reason, Jeremiah seemed to have a change of heart and was snapping at and berating his own subordinates for their disagreements. Just what had come over him? It was like he was an entirely different person from the cocky boastful leader of the Purists they were used to.

"Well then," Rei said as she threw Rochelle's necklace to the ground, causing the ruby attached to it to smash to pieces and then reached into her coat and produced a remote control, "Till next time."

She then pushed the button at the top of the controller and the huge dome capsule shot out what appeared to be purple smoke, which exactly what it was, but Rei knew that many people would assume that it was poison gas, which would cause enough chaos for them to make their getaway and that's exactly what happened. The crowds all turned and ran, screaming in panic as they believed that it was poison gas and not harmless coloured smoke.

"You cowardly Eleven!" Villetta's voice came from her Sutherland as she aimed her assault rifle at Rei, but another Sutherland zoomed in front of her and forced her assault rifle upwards as she opened fire.

* * *

"Lord Jeremiah," Villetta said from inside her cockpit in shocked surprise, "What are you…?"

* * *

"You heard me!" Jeremiah replied in furious rage from inside his own cockpit, "Stand down now!"

* * *

Outside, Rei grabbed Suzaku before she and Kallen ran to the edge of the bridge and then jumped off the edge and started to plummet to the street below.

* * *

"They're not alone at all," Kewell said from inside the cockpit of his Sutherland after witnessing Rei and her accomplice jump off the side of the bridge, "They jumped right off."

* * *

Meanwhile, Ohgi's MR-1 fired two slash harkens at the wall of a building beside the three falling people with a safety net attached to the cables of both slash harkens in the gap between them and Rei, Suzaku and Kallen fell right into it, landing safely and unhurt

* * *

"It worked," Ohgi said happily, unable to believe their luck, "Now we can…"

However, his excitement was cut short when he felt the cockpit start to shake rather violently and he felt his head being thrown on all directions as he quickly realised that someone was shooting at him.

* * *

Outside, a Sutherland was descending from the bridge above and was firing at the MR-1 and literally shot it to pieces, but the cockpit's rocket boosters fired up, indicating that the pilot had activated his ejection mechanism and the cockpit shot of.

* * *

"You imbecile!" Kewell stated angrily as he glared at the escaping cockpit on his monitor from his own cockpit, "There's nowhere for you to run."

"Lord Kewell," Jeremiah's furious voice came over the communicator, "Are you going to follow orders or not.

* * *

Outside, Kewell's Sutherland hung by the side of the building, suspended by one of the slash harkens he had fired into the wall of the building. Above him was Jeremiah's Sutherland with its assault rifle aimed at Kewell's Sutherland, ready to fire if need be.

* * *

"And believe me, their will be repercussions," Jeremiah went on from inside his cockpit, still in a furiously enraged tone "All units; do I make myself clear? Do everything in your power to help them get away!"

* * *

At the hospital, Clovis looked on in utter astonishment as Rei, whom he knew was Euphemia in disguise made off with Suzaku. Needless to say, he was relieved that the boy had been saved from execution as he did not believe in punishing the innocent. However, he was also concerned about his half-sister. He knew that Euphemia must have used the same power she had used on him and Rochelle to get information about Lady Marianne's assignation to get Jeremiah to help her, Suzaku and her accomplice escape. The only good news was that the Purists were now finished. Clovis knew that for a certainty He knew that the Purists had cut off all communications with the homeland, as he had also tried to get through to his brother, Schneizel to ask for help, but was unable to get through. This would no doubt be discovered and the skeletons within the Purists' closet would undoubtably be made public. All in all, Euphemia not only rescued Suzaku, but also managed to single-handedly bring down the Purist Faction.

However, he could not help but worry over her safety. He knew that she was going to challenge the Holy Britannian Empire in its entirety. His meeting with her told her that much. Euphemia was going to use this Rei persona to challenge Britannia as well as discover the truth behind Lady Marianne's assassination. Lelouch, he knew had just been an unfortunate who had happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and he knew that Euphemia was really close with the vi Britannia siblings. Heck, Lady Marianne was more of a mother to Euphemia than Rochelle had ever been. He could not help but worry that Euphemia was getting in over her head. Britannia was after all a very powerful empire that controlled over one third of the world and undoubtably, its control would no doubt grow in future. Euphemia was just one person and even though that C.C. girl had given her some sort of hypnotic power that could bend other people to her will, Clovis knew that Euphemia was going to need a lot more than that if she had any hope of toppling Britannia.

"Euphie," he thought rather worryingly, "You may have accomplished what you set out to do tonight, but can you really expect to win the overall war? You won this battle, but not the war and the road's going to get a lot rougher from here on in, especially if rumours of my replacement as Viceroy being Cornelia are true. Can you really bring yourself to go up against your own full-blooded sister?"

True, if Cornelia was his replacement as Viceroy, it would undoubtably make things difficult for Euphemia as he remembered how Cornelia used to dote on her little sister when they were little. Cornelia really loved her sister and had been absolutely infuriated when she learned that their father had sent her away with Nunnally. However, their father had threatened to kill Euphemia if Cornelia persisted in causing him trouble and from the sounds of it, it was no empty threat either. Clovis knew how uncaring their father was towards his wives and children. They were nothing more than tools to him; tools that he used to further his own ambitions. Even though Cornelia had calmed down, she still harboured a fierce hatred of their father; especially after Euphemia and Nunnally were both pronounced dead. However, it was only after some careful negotiating from Rochelle that Cornelia did not turn against their father, though Clovis knew that she had a fierce amount of animosity, loathing and pure hatred towards their father. He had to wonder if perhaps Cornelia was biding her time; waiting for the right opportunity in which she could kill their father.

However, right now, if Cornelia did come over here and took over his job, she would no doubt see Rei as a terrorist and go on a campaign to hunt her down and take revenge for her mother's death; not that Cornelia and Rochelle had been close. In fact, they were anything but close, due to Cornelia's idolisation of Lady Marianne, but despite Cornelia's animosity towards her mother, both of them had managed to put their differences aside in the past and cooperate on a professional level and they did agree on a few things. So even though Cornelia did not like her mother, they still managed to get along and Rochelle was her mother, so Cornelia would undoubtably feel that her mother should be avenged despite her dislike of her and Clovis did not know whether to find the situation laughable or frightening as Cornelia would be hunting down her own sister, whom she loved dearly. He could not help but realise the irony in that. Cornelia would be hunting down the very sister she probably wanted to avenge and he shuddered to think of what would happen if Euphemia's identity was exposed to Cornelia and just what was Cornelia's role in Marianne's assassination anyway? He knew that she put an awful lot of time and effort into investigations that turned out to be fruitless and that was that. Did she really know something and did not divulge the information intentionally? He honestly did not believe that Cornelia betrayed Lady Marianne like Euphemia seemed to believe, but perhaps she did know something and had been sworn to secrecy. That seemed more plausible. Maybe that's why she hated their father so much. She was also unhappy about the Emperor's dismissal of Lady Marianne and Lelouch's deaths. Perhaps she discovered something and their father had sworn her to secrecy under strict penalties should she break her silence.

"If that's the case, then I shudder to think what other skeletons you might have in your closet father," he thought nervously as he remembered Euphemia commenting on the Ragnarok Connection, "The less I know the better."

* * *

**Author's Notes **– Another chapter done and I've gotta say that it's perhaps the longest one yet. As I stressed in the past, Euphemia's alias would not b Zero… well I suppose it is in way since Rei can mean Zero in Japanese and it's also a Japanese girl's name. Both Sailor Moon and Neon Genesis Evangelion have girls called Rei; the Rei in Sailor Moon is really Sailor Mars and the Rei in Neon Genesis Evangelion is a tool meant to start the Third Impact or something along those lines. I dropped hints in the last two chapters with mentioning the kanji symbol and Euphemia's speech to C.C. Next chapter, I'll get the aftermath wrapped up and then see what the antagonists behind the scenes are up to. By the way, I'm planning on putting up a poll in my profile about who you think should be the overall big bad guy (final antagonist). I'm still shifting ideas about in my head about that, including a scenario where Suzaku and Marianne duke it out in Knightmare combat and another Kallen VS Marianne scenario. However, since this is my first time trying a poll, I'm not sure if I'll be able to get it up, so don't be surprised if there's no poll, but check anyway.


	15. The aftermath

**Code Geass – Euphemia of the Revelation**

**The aftermath**

**Disclaimer **– Code Geass is the property of Sunrise, Bandai Entertainment and Ichiro Okouchi, so I don't own anything afflicted with Code Geass.

* * *

**Warnings **– Strong language, strong violence, Euphemia OOC (obviously), yuri, possible lemons in later chapters (unsure)

* * *

It was night in the Shinjuku Ghetto and Rei, Kallen and Ohgi along with Suzaku had met up with the rest of the resistance group at an old theatre after Rei, Kallen and Ohgi had rescued Suzaku from his execution at the hands of the Purist Faction. Rei had almost immediately taken Suzaku into one of the amphitheatres while the rest of the group waited in the main lobby.

"Man, I really couldn't think she could do it," Yoshida said, still unable to believe how Rei managed to convince Jeremiah to have a change of heart.

"Yeah," one of the others said, "Who is this babe anyway?"

"That's crap," Tamaki spoke up, clearly not happy at this woman's apparent success after putting herself in what seemed to be a suicidal situation, "How many times can a bluff like that work anyway?"

Once again, the mysterious woman had somehow managed to pull through and Tamaki felt absolutely humiliated as he knew that if he had been in her position, he would have wound dead, which meant that this woman was a better strategist than he was. Well, his plans were all on the notion of charging in head on, guns blazing and completely dominating the enemy, though he was not stupid enough to go in front of a fully armed military convoy. Whoever Rei was, she had managed to accomplish the impossible, as she said she would, but it only served to infuriate Tamaki even more. He did not know how she managed to do it, but he definitely felt as if he was inferior to her and that Rei was rubbing it in his face just by being near him and the one thing Tamaki did not like was others seeing him as inferior, especially when the person he felt was looking down on him was a woman.

"You gotta give the girl some credit though," Ohgi said in response to Tamaki's statement.

"Huh?" Tamaki said, glaring at his leader.

"Gotta admit it, nobody else could've pulled that off," Ohgi went on from his position sitting on a seat in the lobby, ignoring Tamaki's glare, "Not the Japanese Liberation Front; and certainly not me."

Tamaki just scoffed as he leaned his back against the nearby wall with his arms folded.

"We always thought that a full-on war with Britannia wasn't a possibility at all," Ohgi went on, ignoring Tamaki altogether and causing Kallen's eyes to widen in surprise, "But maybe with her, it is."

Kallen, who was still dressed in her chauffeur suit turned to look in the direction that Rei had taken Suzaku, curious as to what they were discussing. Just who was this Rei character anyway and why did she have them risk their lives to save an Honorary Britannian. She had to admit that what Rei had done was nothing short of miraculous as she had managed to overcome seemingly impossible odds, but why? Kallen could honestly say that she had no love for Honorary Britannians and Suzaku was no exception. In her mind, Honorary Britannians were traitors to their countrymen; just as bad as the Britannians themselves, so why save one? Did Rei believe that he would come to his senses and realise that he had made a mistake in joining up with the Britannians or was it something else… something that Rei was unwilling to divulge? Nevertheless, Kallen's curiosity got the best of her and she found herself walking off in that direction. She was determined to get to the bottom of this and whenever her curiosity was aroused, there was no stopping Kallen Kouzuki until she discovered what she wanted to discover.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the amphitheatre Suzaku stood in front of the stage looking up at Rei who was standing atop a pile of fallen debris that had caved into the room with her silhouette highlighted by the light of the moon shining through the massive hole that Rei had her back to and where the fallen debris had been before it caved in.

"It looks like they treated you rather roughly," Rei said as she looked down on Suzaku who looked rather confused and was no doubt wondering just what was going on, "Now you know what they're really like Private Kururugi. Britannia is rotten. If you wish to bring change to this world, then join me."

Suzaku just stared up at Rei and his face suddenly changed from an expression of confusion to an expression of restrained anger.

"So is it true?" he said, clearly not happy with what was happening, "Are you really the one who killed Lady Rochelle and almost killed Prince Clovis?"

"This is war," Rei replied in a seriously harsh tone, "Why wouldn't I kill an enemy leader. Besides, Rochelle li Britannia had it coming. She was planning on wiping out the entire Japanese population in a plan dubbed, "Operation: Eleven Genocide". The whole Shinjuku affair was nothing more than a plot to encourage the Japanese people to rebel so she could kill them all off. She intentionally allowed the capsule to fall into terrorist hands and let them escape into the ghettos. She'd have the perfect excuse to massacre the population, the rest would rebel and then she would have orchestrated the extinction of the Japanese people. Killing the residences for fear of them discovering the truth of what was inside that capsule would have served as a good cover story. As for Clovis… I only discovered Rochelle's after I dealt with him and in truth, I thought he was dead. He must've been playing possum. In any case, he was nothing more than Rochelle's puppet the entire time, which was why I let him go when I discovered that he was still alive. I have no interest in puppets that have no puppeteers. If you want more information, then ask him yourself and tell him that Rei told you to come."

Suzaku's eyes widened in shock upon hearing this. This was not what he was expecting. Surely this was just a mistake. The whole Shinjuku crisis had been a massacre instigated by the Britannian military… that had to be wrong. He remembered piloting the Lancelot, which helped turn the tide back in the Britannians' favour. If Rei was telling the truth, then it would mean that he may as well have the blood of the innocent on his hands despite the fact he did not kill any innocents himself and even rescued someone. It just could not be true. He hated it when innocent people died and the revelation that he had a part in a massacre of innocents was just too much for him to bear.

"You lie!" Suzaku snapped furiously, glaring up at Rei, "And what about the gas you unleashed? Those were civilians out there and you claim to be have been defending the residents of Shinjuku Ghetto?"

"A bluff to help things along," Rei replied, though it looked as if she was taken aback by Suzaku's outburst, "Just harmless coloured smoke I can assure you. The result; not a single death. My target is Britannian's corruption itself, not the people that are brainwashed by it."

"The result," Suzaku said in a disgusted tone as he shook his head, "I guess that's all that matters to you I suppose."

He then looked down at the ground and looked as if he was deep in thought and then he shrugged his shoulders.

"The choice is yours Private Kururugi, come join me, the offer's still open," Rei said, sounding as if she was pleading, though it also seemed that she anticipated that he would refuse, "And I can assure you that I was not lying about Rochelle. Go ask Clovis if you're unsure. He was Rochelle's puppet and shield. The Britannia you serve is a worthless dominion."

"Maybe that's true," Suzaku acknowledged, "And supposing it's true about the Shinjuku affair, but…"

He then trailed off and then turned up at Rei, glaring at her.

"But this nation; it can be changed it can be changed for the better," he went on with a determined look on his face, "And from within."

* * *

"Changed?" Euphemia thought from inside the costume with her eyes widened in surprise, "I don't want to change Britannia; I want to destroy it completely. Only then can it be changed once its rebuilt."

* * *

"And any ends gained through contemptible means aren't worth anything," Suzaku went on, asserting his beliefs as he started to walk towards the exit.

"Wait, where are you going?" Rei said in an alarmed tone, "If you won't agree to my offer, then fine; but just tell me where you're going."

"My court martial begins in an hour," Suzaku said in the same disgusted tone as before, unable to stand being in this woman's presence any longer as he continued walking without sparing Rei a glance.

Rei flinched as she clenched her fist.

"Are you mad?" she shouted out in alarm, "The only reason they're giving you a trial is to find you guilty; the judge, the prosecution and defence."

Of course, she knew that with her confession that there was a good chance of Suzaku being found innocent. However, she would not put it past the Purists if they just decided to find him guilty and have him executed anyway due to their pride. They may be finished as far as their hold on power went, but they may just decide to take their fury over their damaged reputation out on Suzaku and probably spin some cover story on how he was an accomplice to the crime in which he would still end up being put to death.

"Rules are rules," Suzaku replied before coming to a stop, though he did not turn round to face her and had his back to her, "And if I don't go, they'll start cracking down on Elevens… and Honorary Britannians."

"JAPANESE!" Rei yelled, causing Suzaku to jump in fright, though he wondered if the intimidating factor was the voice changer that disguised Rei's voice, making her gender indistinguishable with that electronic sound, "Japanese you idiot, not Elevens. How can you denounce your own people like that? Anyway, you'll die if you go, is that what you want?"

"As a matter of fact, I stopped caring about myself seven years ago, so if I die, then so be it," he replied with a sigh, "At least I will have found atonement."

"Atonement… atonement for what?" Rei asked, clenching her fists, though being Euphemia, she could already guess at what he was talking about.

She knew that Suzaku and Genbu did not get on that well at all and Suzaku had confided in her that his father actually despised him as he blamed him for the death of his wife, his own mother as she had died in childbirth after giving birth to him. The only reason why Genbu had not killed or disowned Suzaku was because he promised his wife that he would not. It was apparent that despite the late Mrs Kururugi's pleas to her husband before her death, Genbu still hated Suzaku. After Genbu's death, Euphemia remembered Suzaku telling her how he had killed him. That had been a shock, but she knew that it had been on the spur of the moment, plus Suzaku had defended her and Nunnally as she remembered Suzaku telling her how his father threatened to kill them both now that he no longer had a use for them. In truth, Genbu Kururugi had immersed himself in his grief and hatred after the death of his wife and it had driven him insane to the point where nothing mattered to him; not even the lives of his own people, which was why he was willing to allow the Britannians to wipe them out.

Anyway, Euphemia knew how guilty Suzaku felt over what he had done. When she had seen Suzaku immediately after he had killed his father, she noticed a change in him. She did not know how to describe it; only that it was as if a part of Suzaku had died with his father that day. No doubt, he believed that death was the only way he could atone. Utterly foolish, Euphemia would admit, but if what Suzaku was telling her was true, then it seemed that he only joined the military because he wanted to die and was obviously too afraid to commit suicide. Perhaps he believed that he should suffer before he died. He wanted to change Britannia, but it was obvious that he did not care whether he lived or died.

"That's none of your business," Suzaku spoke harshly in response to Rei's questions, "My reasons are my own. You kind of remind of a friend of mine. She used to always tell me that. She'd say I was a fool."

* * *

Inside the costume, Euphemia looked on in surprise as Suzaku was comparing Rei to her and ironically, she and Rei were one and the same.

"It's my weakness I guess," she heard Suzaku go on, "But at least she understood me."

* * *

"I'd try to bring you in," Suzaku said as he finally turned round to face Rei, "But no doubt, you'd just end up killing me… and if I'm going to die, it'll be in the service of the people. Even so, I thank you for saving me."

"I see," Rei said with a defeated sigh, shaking her head, "So be it. I won't waste my breath any longer. However, I hope that one day, you will realise the mistakes your making and if you every change your mind, my offer's still open. However, if we meet on the battlefield, I won't hesitate to kill you if need be."

Suzaku nodded before turning back and continued walking towards a hole in the wall leading outside with the glow of the settlement's lights highlighting the sky in the distance.

"I understand," he said simply in acknowledgement.

* * *

Inside the costume, Euphemia watched him go, glaring at him for his foolishness. However, in a sense, like he had said, she understood him as he reminded her of herself before that man had given her a harsh slap of reality. Like her, Suzaku clearly despised war and conflict and sought out peaceful means as a solution to disagreements. She understood that because she had been the same way. However, it was apparent that the war seven years ago did not wake him up to the reality of the situation. There were people in the world that just could not be reasoned with. The Emperor of Britannia was one such example. Euphemia knew that he despised peace and negotiation and actually encouraged war, believing that it was human nature. If he wanted something, he'd just take it by force. Suzaku just could not see that. That man had given Euphemia a rather rude awakening to reality and she just hoped that Suzaku would not have to go through something similar before he realised the truth as Euphemia knew that something like that would undoubtably cause him to suffer a nervous breakdown

Of course she knew that his view on results gained through the wrong means were meaningless stemmed from his father's death. He had killed his father and brought peace, but to the Japanese, it was not much of a peace at all; more like oppression. Since the Japanese did not benefit from this "peace", Suzaku no doubt believed that it was worthless and that was why he wanted to change Britannia.

"You fool," she said aloud once she was sure that Suzaku was out of earshot, "I understand where your coming from, but that's one situation. I agree that in some cases that your beliefs are correct, but not all the time. You must understand that that man used contemptible means to seize this country and seventy percent of the world's Sakuradite is worth a helluva lot and you say that it's worthless? I hope you realise your mistakes before it's too late because I fear that all paths you can take will lead you to a dead end in which you'll either submit, break or change. What's truly worthless is remaining on a path and not getting anywhere. You let the system chew you up and spit you out and if you're just going to take it, you'll end up dying for nothing. That man… he won't release his grasp over Japan until he's ravaged it of every drop of its Sakuradite reserves out of it and then he'll just abandon it, cast it to the wind, but even then, his pride won't allow him to give a conquered nation its independence. He'd sooner just wipe the whole nation of the face of the Earth before he even considers that option. Your attitude reminds me of myself before I was disowned."

* * *

Kallen stood out of sight at the door, having witnessed the entire conversation between Rei and Suzaku and needless to say, she was also glaring in the direction that Suzaku had walked off in. Seriously, what was with that guy? They saved his life from execution; only for him to denounce them and go back just to face execution anyway… that just was not right. Of course, with Rei's confession along with Jeremiah's apparent betrayal, which would undoubtably lead to the downfall of the Purist Faction, there was a good chance that Suzaku would be found innocent. However, Kallen had to admit that she was half-tempted to follow him and put him out of his misery. If he wanted to die, then that was fine with her. She would be more than happy to grant him his wish.

"Lousy traitor," she thought bitterly as she glared out at the hole in the wall; Suzaku already long since disappeared, "We risked an awful lot just to save you and this is the thanks we get? We should have just left you to your fate you traitorous scum."

However, upon hearing Rei's rant afterwards, her curiosity peaked once again. She had to admit that Rei was correct, but it seemed that she did not want to kill Suzaku despite what she had told him before he left, but the question was why? Was the person behind the mask an old friend of Suzaku's and perhaps she had misjudged him? That seemed plausible. However, just how Suzaku believed he could change Britannia after being used as a scapegoat was beyond her. Was he really that thick-headed and stupid that he had not figured out what the whole so-called court martial had really been about? Honestly, Kallen knew that if she was in Suzaku's position, she would have figured it out long before now and she would have jumped on Rei's band wagon without any persuasion. Suzaku was just being naïve and foolish, though she had to admit that there was nothing wrong with wanting to settle things peacefully. However, unfortunately the Britannians were anything but peaceful. If Britannia could have been changed through peaceful means, then it would have changed already; heck, the war with Japan may not have even happened if that had been the case. Kallen certainly took no pleasure in violence, but knew that this battle was necessary.

"I really hope you do learn the error of your ways as well Kururugi because if I ever meet you out on the battlefield, I swear that I will kill you," she thought as the look in her eyes hardened with determined resolve, "Rei may be willing to forgive you, but you'll find that earning my forgiveness is going to be a helluva lot harder."

However, upon hearing Rei's mention of "that man", Kallen was taken aback at the amount of venom and hatred laced in her voice as she noticed Rei's entire body trembling with rage and for once, Kallen was glad that her face was hidden behind that helmeted mask as she shuddered to think what her face must look like. Of course, from her speech, Kallen quickly deduced that she was referring to the Britannian Emperor himself and that certainly sparked her curiosity. It was clear that Rei absolutely despised and detested the Emperor if her body language and tone of voice were anything to go by, but why? Did the woman behind the mask have a past with the Emperor? Did the Emperor ruin her life? That much was no doubt obvious. Many people believed that the Britannian Emperor ruined their lives as he was Britannia's leader, the mastermind behind the invasion of Japan and who knows how many other nations. What made Rei's case so special? The last statement of being disowned really got Kallen's attention. Rei had been like Suzaku until she was disowned, just what did that mean? Apparently that event had been a wake up call to her. Maybe that's why she allowed Suzaku to leave, she figured. Suzaku was too similar to her old self and Rei obviously felt that he deserved a chance to realise just how naïve he was, though she could not help but wonder if perhaps Suzaku was in denial.

"Rei," she thought as she continued to observe the costumed woman as she calmed down, "You did manage to pull off the impossible and even though it was for nothing. I just can't help but wonder about you. Just who in the world are you and why did you suddenly decided to emerge now?"

There were a lot of questions unanswered and Kallen, being the curious person that she was, was determined to find the answers.

* * *

Meanwhile at the Lamperouge residence, Nunnally continued to listen to the miniature TV she had in her hands; the one she had been listening to during Suzaku's execution procession in wonder. Suzaku had apparently been saved by a mysterious woman… at least the person claimed to be a woman, though Nunnally could not be sure as she could not see and only heard Rei's electronic genderless voice. Afterwards, she had continued to listen and from what she had heard, Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald had apparently gone berserk and helped Rei get away.

"Yes… apparently Private Kururugi has made contact with the authorities," Nunnally heard a man saying.

"It seems that this Rei has released him?" another man spoke up, adding to the first man's statement.

"However, now that the original charges against him have been thrown into question," the first man went on, "It's very possible Kururugi will be found innocent and acquitted."

"Thank goodness," Nunnally said in relief with a smile on her face, no longer concerned with what was being said as she had heard everything she needed to hear.

She had to admit that despite Rei being the real murderer, the fact she had come forward and rescued Suzaku left her feeling rather grateful. She had not wanted Suzaku to die and if he had have been executed; she did not know what she would have done. She knew that Euphemia had been quite close with Suzaku and no doubt would have been totally devastated if he had have been executed. She had not seen much of her big half-sister since the day they both learned of Suzaku's arrest. Euphemia had been rather distant since then and it worried Nunnally. That was so unlike Euphie. However, she guessed that it was because of Suzaku's arrest and the fact that she was upset over it. She did not know where Euphemia was right now and guessed that she must be somewhere out in the settlement watching the news coverage of Suzaku's court martial procession, though she had a deep fear that her half-sister had been in the crowd watching the procession and had gotten caught up in the chaos that Rei had caused.

Suddenly, she heard the door to the room open and turned to face the door despite the fact she could not see.

"Miss Sayoko?" she said, assuming that Sayoko had come to check on her.

"No, I'm not Miss Sayoko," she heard an unfamiliar voice say as she heard the person walk into the room and tensed up fearfully, wondering if this person was going to hurt her.

"W-who are you?" she asked in a fearful tone, dropping the miniature TV onto the floor and manoeuvred her wheelchair to face the person and then reversed back in fright, "What do you want?"

"You can relax Miss Lamperouge," the voice, which Nunnally guessed belonged to a woman, said in a kind and reassuring tone, "I mean you no harm. My name is C.C. and I'm a friend of your half-sister, Euphemia."

"Euphie's friend?" Nunnally said somewhat hesitantly before calming down, "I'm afraid she's not here at the moment."

C.C. just chuckled jokingly.

"That's okay, I can wait," she said dismissively, "That is, if you don't mind putting up with me."

"No not at all Miss… C two you said your name was?" Nunnally replied shaking her head.

"That's right," C.C. replied in a warm tone.

"Right, well then, you're welcome to wait," Nunnally said with a nod and a smile adorning her face, "Would you like me to show you my new passion for origami while you wait? I don't know how long Euphie's going to be and she may be not be back for some time yet."

"Yes, I'd like that," C.C. replied and Nunnally imagined the smile the woman had adorning her face.

* * *

Meanwhile in an area of what had once been Shibuya, which, like Shinjuku had been one of Tokyo's twenty-three special wards as well as one of Tokyo's central business districts, Eleanor el Britannia and her subordinates in the OSI had set up their base of operation in the basement of an old ruined thirty-storey building that had once been a hotel complex. Like Shinjuku, Shibuya had become a ghetto due to Britannia's lack of interest and like the Shinjuku Ghetto, the Shibuya Ghetto had become home to Japanese who had been driven out of the settlement. The building itself was close to the border between the settlement and the ghetto and very few people lived so close to the settlement as they were afraid of the Britannians and wanted to stay as far away from the settlement as possible, so Eleanor had decided that it would be a perfect place to set up their base of operations. Hardly anyone wondered in this part of the ghetto anyway, so there was no way anyone would think to look in a deserted part of a ghetto if their cover was blown.

Currently, Eleanor was sitting in a dark damp room in a rickety old chair, swirling a glass of wine in her hand as she watched the footage of Suzaku's court martial and how Rei had saved him on n old TV sitting on top of a crate at the wall to the left of the door. Needless to say, she looked on with a look of fascinating amusement as she took a sip from her glass.

"Rei, so that's your alter-ego's persona, is it Euphemia?" she chuckled in amusement, "You've adopted the Japanese word for Zero and adorned its symbol in the kanji alphabet as a sign of respect to Japan. You're absolutely wonderful my dear. It's such a shame that our mission here is to eventually kill you. I admire your love of Japan and how you took up a name of the native language."

"Lady Eleanor," a man's voice came, causing her to glance up at the doorway where a man holding two crates; one on top of the other stood.

"Yes, what is it?" she said in a slightly annoyed tone, not happy at being interrupted or the fact that the man had addressed her by her real name, "And for the record, while we're here, you will address me as Miss Goodwin. For the duration of our stay here, my name is Elaine Goodwin."

"My apologies Lady… er, I mean Miss Goodwin," the man apologised while looking as if he was about to fall over from the sheer weight of the crates in his hands, "Just where do you want these kept?"

"Just put them in the right hand corner by the door," Eleanor said dismissively as she waved him off, "Now, I'm trying to watch this, so be quiet."

The man just nodded as he did as instructed. The room did not look much. It was very bare, grey and dirty aside from the chair Eleanor sat on, the crate and the TV. However, the OSI had yet to begin setting up their equipment and Eleanor had made a note to have it done by the following night.

After the man placed the crates down in the allocated corner and left, Eleanor was once again interrupted, only this time, the person had the decency to knock.

"Come in, the door's open," Eleanor said with a sigh as she shook her head and when the door opened, Rolo came walking in, though he stopped just after entering the room.

"My apologies Miss Goodwin," he said with a polite bow, "I don't mean to disturb you, but I just thought that you should know that my arrangements at Ashford Academy have been finalised. I'm due to start this Monday."

Eleanor turned her head to face Rolo, after taking another sip of her glass and flashed him a warming motherly smile.

"That's nice to hear," she said as her smile widened, "Tomorrow's Friday, so no major setbacks."

"Rei?" Rolo said in confusion as he overheard the news reporter mention the name from the TV.

"A Japanese word that can mean Zero," Eleanor replied simply, "It can also be associated with the word, spirit as well as a Japanese girl's name."

"I see," Rolo said as he turned to look at Rei's image on the TV, though he was still confused, "I take it that that's our target, Euphemia, right?"

"Of course," Eleanor said with a nod, "I wouldn't be watching this otherwise."

"But why would Euphemia adopt a Japanese name if she's not Japanese?" Rolo asked, clearly confused as he shot his surrogate mother a look that said as much.

"You must remember dear Rolo that seven years ago, Charles sent both Euphemia and Nunnally over to Japan as political tools," the Imperial Consort explained, "It would be foolish to think that Euphemia didn't start to see Japan as her new home before the war. No doubt she was coming round to seeing this place as more of her home than her former residence back in Pendragon. No doubt, she decided to take up a Japanese name and adorn the name's symbol as her insignia as a sign of respect to Japan."

"I see," Rolo said with an understandable nod as he had to admit that that was plausible.

Euphemia probably saw Japan as more of a home than Pendragon. It made sense that she would want to pay homage to what she considered her new homeland.

"Anyway, just to remind you that your mission is simply to observe her while she's at school," Eleanor said as both her expression and tone became rather serious, "As for her activities as Rei, someone else will take over. The chances of you getting caught are too high and if you are spotted, then your cover would be blown, so you concentrate on her school life while I make arrangements for someone else to monitor her activities as Rei."

"Understood Miss Goodwin," Rolo said in an unquestioning tone as he stood at attention and gave his surrogate mother a salute, which brought a warming smile to Eleanor's face.

* * *

Meanwhile, somewhere out in the Middle East, which was known as that Middle Eastern Federation at a Britannian military base, the Chief General of the Imperial Army and Second Princess Cornelia li Britannia, who was currently leading the campaign to establish Area Eighteen was sitting in her makeshift office currently drinking a cup of tea as she awaited for the time to come in which she would be deployed to go into battle. Cornelia herself was a well-renowned Knightmare pilot. Sure, she might not be on the level of Marianne the Flash, but her skills were so great and her battle record so spotless that she had earned the names, "Witch of Britannia" and "Goddess of Victory". What made Cornelia so frightening was that not only had she never lost a battle, but she had been known to utterly defeat and decimate enemy Knightmares that were vastly superior to her own Knightmare. This was a customised version of a mass production model, the Gloucester; customised to make it slightly stronger than other Gloucesters. However, Cornelia's skills were so good that even pilots in Knightmares that were undoubtably superior to her own could not defeat her. What her unit lacked in strength; she made up for with her sheer amount of skill. For this reason, Cornelia was respected and feared the world over. Enemies of Britannia knew one thing. If they had Cornelia for an opponent, they were absolutely doomed to defeat. Cornelia was also feared for her strategic knowledge as well. In addition to her immense piloting skills, she was a good strategist, second only the Britannian Prime Minister, Prince Schneizel el Britannia. Cornelia had also managed to win her battles through really outlandish and seemingly impossible strategies that completely turned a situation to her advantage and in combination with her superb skills as a Knightmare pilot, one thing was certain… if anyone underestimated Cornelia… it could very well be the last mistake they would ever make.

Anyway, Cornelia was currently awaiting deployment and unfortunately, she was not pleased to say the least. Seven years had gone by since her father had sent her sister and her idol, Lady Marianne's daughter, Nunnally to Japan as political bargaining chips only for them both to be lost in the war. Needless to say, she was not too happy about it. She had absolutely adored her sister, Euphemia and spent most of her time doting on her. Heck, Cornelia had practically raised her sister as their parents had always been too busy to spare her much of their time and of all her many half-siblings, the vi Britannia siblings had been the ones closest to her, all because of who their mother was; her idol Marianne "the Flash" vi Britannia. Her time with them had been nothing short of absolutely wonderful and blissfully peaceful. Lelouch had been somewhat of a child prodigy in terms of his skill at chess; the only one aside from Schneizel who was able to defeat her at chess and he even taught Euphemia how to play, though she could never beat either of them.

"Euphie," she thought with a sigh as she remembered those peaceful days.

Lelouch's chess skills had been nothing short of amazing, though he lost to Schneizel. However, Lelouch had proven his worth when he managed to defeat her and Clovis in a handicap game in which both her and Clovis faced Lelouch at the same time with Euphemia and Nunnally both looking on. Clovis had been too predictable and left his king wide open and so Lelouch beat him easily, but Cornelia was not so foolish. However, Lelouch still managed to defeat her as well, as he had pointed out, she concentrated too much on her king and not on her other pieces and if that wasn't enough, Euphemia had stunned everyone when she played Clovis to a stalemate with she first took him on and them defeated him in a rematch. It was nothing short of remarkable.

However, it had all come to an end that horrible day where Lady Marianne was assassinated and Lelouch had been unfortunate enough to end up getting caught in the crossfire. Cornelia believed that it had been the work of terrorists; terrorists who had somehow managed to overcome impossible odds. The night before her assassination, Marianne had asked her to remove herself and the security from the premises of the Aries Villa as she was in charge of Lady Marianne's personal guard. She did not know why, but Cornelia believed that the terrorists have managed to gain Lady Marianne's trust to the point where she was lulled into a false sense of security and that they had set her up. Unfortunately, the terrorists were never caught and seemed to have vanished off the face of the Earth and all her efforts to track them down ended in vain.

However, that was not the most shocking thing of all. Her father, the Emperor had just waved it off like it was nothing and what was worse, when Euphemia confronted him about it, he had denounced her and had her and Nunnally sent over to Japan as the ruling Kururugi Family's political hostages, which did not sit too well with her. However, when she voiced her disapproval and threatened to renounce her claim to the throne, her father had threatened to bring Euphemia back and kill her. He said that unlike "that pacifist weakling whore of a sister" of hers, he could still make use of her due to her skills at strategy and Knightmare piloting and a few words from her mother about how Euphie "needed to be taught a lesson" for standing up for "that disgusting witch" forced her to change her mind. Needless to say, she absolutely detested and loathed her father even to this day and her hatred was amplified when she learned that both Euphemia and Nunnally had been casualties in the war. However, what stopped her from outright killing her father was that he mother had begged and pleaded her to reconsider and Cornelia bowed to Rochelle's demands just to shut her up, though she had decided to bide her time and wait for an opportunity to kill her father and take revenge.

Unfortunately, Cornelia knew that her father was no fool. He probably anticipated her plan, which was probably why she had not set foot in Pendragon for so long. As soon as she was finished with one mission, her father already her, her next one lined up for her. It was clear that Charles zi Britannia was no fool. He knew of his daughter's plan. That much was obvious and it made Cornelia sick to her stomach. She despised and detested the man and yet, here she was doing his bidding and it was that aspect of it all that disgusted her. She knew that if she wanted to bring him down, she'd have no choice but to bow to his demands for now and continue to bide her time until such a time in which he dropped his guard and then, she would take revenge for both Euphemia and Nunnally.

"Speak of the devil," she mused as she heard a beeping sound and pushed a button situated underneath her desk a screen descended from the ceiling in front of the wall she was currently facing.

"What does His Majesty want from me this time?" she asked herself with a humourless chuckle and sighed as she shook her head.

First there was nothing on the screen but squiggly lines and zigzags and then the image came into focus, fuzzy at first, but as the image became clearly, Cornelia was greeted with the image of a bleach-blonde haired man with handsomely beautiful blue eyes.

"Schneizel," Cornelia stated unenthusiastically, "What do I owe the pleasure of this call?"

The man, Schneizel just chuckled with an amused look on his face.

"Really Cornelia, is that any way to greet your older brother?" he said with a chuckle.

"Just get to the point Schneizel, I'm in no mood for your games at the moment," Cornelia said, glaring at the Prime Minister's image, "The final battle to establish Area Eighteen is in a few hours and I must be ready for deployment."

Schneizel displayed a rather evident frown on his face and shook his head in mock hurt.

"My, you wound me Cornelia," he said in a jokingly hurt tone before his look became rather serious, "Anyway, as you no doubt have guessed, this isn't a social call."

"What does the tyrant want from me now?" Cornelia asked with a humourless chuckle, "Perhaps he wants me to go to somewhere like Area Eight so I can help the Viceroy there find his lost cat or perhaps help with a military campaign that isn't even worth me time because our forces are too lazy to fight."

Schneizel laughed at this, knowing full well the bad blood that existed between Cornelia and their father. In fact, he had not agreed with the aftermath of Lady Marianne's assassination either, but rather than outright confront their father, he know that it was wise to keep his silence as he had his own plans in dealing with the Emperor and did not want to draw attention to himself.

"Nothing like that, I can assure you," Schneizel said after regaining his composure and then his expression became rather downfallen and then sighed as if not wanting to tell Cornelia what he had to say, "Cornelia, I'm sorry, but His Majesty has charged me with informing you that your mother, Rochelle li Britannia is dead."

"What?" Cornelia exclaimed as her eyes widened in shock, unable to believe what she had just heard as she studied Schneizel for signs that he was joking.

Unfortunately, she found none.

"I'm sorry," Schneizel went on, the humour in her voice gone and replaced by sadness and sorrow, "But unfortunately on one of her many trips to Area Eleven, she was murdered by terrorists and Clovis was injured."

Upon hearing this, Cornelia's eyes widened even further.

"S-s-s-surely you jest," she said, unable to believe that her mother was dead.

Not that she particularly liked her mother. In fact, quite the opposite, Cornelia absolutely despised and detested her mother for her neglect of both her and Euphemia while growing up and of her, albeit reluctant agreement in sending Euphemia away. Also, Lady Marianne had only widened the rift between them as Rochelle had absolutely despised Lady Marianne due to her commoner status. Of course, Cornelia knew of Marianne's commoner status, but she did not mind. She did not believe that social class determined a person's skills. Lady Marianne had been proof of that. Unfortunately, Rochelle had been unable to accept that, but then again, Cornelia knew that her mother believed herself to be better than everyone else regardless of their status. She knew that her aunt, Danielle had fled to the EU because she was better than her older sister and Rochelle had tried making her life a misery because of it. Rochelle especially had a hatred for Lady Marianne; a hatred that went back to their childhood in which Lady Marianne had stood up for a group of children; three boys and two girls who were being terrorised by Rochelle who was throwing her weight around as a member of the noble Felixstowe Family. That had been the start of their rivalry and Lady Marianne had always bested Rochelle every time they met.

However, Cornelia idolised and looked up to Lady Marianne and that had infuriated Rochelle even more as she believed that Lady Marianne had somehow brainwashed her daughter and was trying to take her from her. Yeah right, Cornelia remembered while growing up that her mother had hardly spent any time with her and was too busy showing off and boasting about herself to care. However, aside from Lady Marianne, they both had managed to put their animosity towards one another aside whenever the situation called for it and they had both managed to come to agreements. Did Cornelia like her mother? The answer was no, but were they able to get along? The answer was yes, they did and it was in those business oriented interactions that Cornelia and her mother were able to come to an understanding. They did not like one another, but they understood one another.

That was why the news that Rochelle li Britannia was now dead seemed to hit Cornelia like a brick wall. She felt that she had just ran head-first into a brick wall. Cornelia may have hated her mother, but not nearly as much as she hated her father and after coming to an understanding with her, she had hoped that someday Rochelle would realise how wrong her outlook on life was and change, even if it was too late for her to spend time with her daughter. Heck, even Lady Marianne found the time to spend with her children and she had the same duties as an Imperial Consort as Rochelle did. However, Rochelle was pretty much a narcissist that cared more about herself than her family.

"I wish I was joking," Schneizel said in response to her statement, bringing her back to reality as she noted the seriousness in her half-brother's voice, "However, I have proof. The body's currently being transported back to the homeland as we speak. There was an incident while the body was en route to the airport in the Tokyo Settlement, so there was a delay in its arrival."

"And I'm only finding this out now, because…" Cornelia said as she glared at the image of her half-brother, still unable to believe what he was telling her and feeling a sense of enraged fury boiling up from her very core.

"His Majesty felt that it was best not to inform you right away as he believed that you'd be too busy with your campaign on establishing Area Eighteen," Schneizel replied with a regrettable, "don't blame me" look on his face.

"Typical," Cornelia said simply as she continued to glare at the screen, "That man's always finding ways to mock me ever since he decided to send Euphie and Nunnally away. I never learned of their deaths until two months after the war ended and now…"

"Five days," Schneizel said simply causing Cornelia to stare at him in confusion, "Lady Rochelle's been dead for five days, though the public in Area Eleven were informed of her death two days after she was murdered."

"And Clovis?" Cornelia asked in a mixture of concern and rage; concern that he had been hurt and rage that he had done absolutely nothing to prevent her mother's death, "Where is he?"

"Recuperating in a hospital," Schneizel replied simply, "Apparently, he escaped death by playing possum. The Purist Faction tried bringing the case to a swift conclusion by using an Honorary Britannian as a scapegoat, but fortunately, their ploy was foiled by the real culprit, a woman wearing a mask calling herself, Rei."

"Rei," Cornelia said as her eyes hardened, "What sort of a name is that?"

"I'm not sure, but I know that it's a word associated with the Elevens' native language," Schneizel replied before his look became somewhat serious, though his eyes still held sorrow, "Which brings me to my next point. His Majesty would like you to relieve Clovis of his duties as Viceroy of Area Eleven."

"What was that?" Cornelia said as her eyes widened in shock.

"I said that Clovis has been relieved of his position as Viceroy and you're his replacement," Schneizel stated simply, "Apparently, there was some sort of incident in one of the ghettos that lead to your mother's demise. I don't know the exact details, but I do know that they were chasing terrorists after the stole some poison gas or something like that."

"I see," Cornelia said with a sigh, feeling rather deflated upon learning of her mother's fate.

Leave it to her father to withhold information concerning her family from her immediately after it had happened. She remembered only learning of Euphemia and Nunnally's deaths two months after the end of the war with Japan. Back then, he father had sent her to Area Seven, Two groups of Islands in the Northern Pacific had once been called Hawaii and Midway Atoll, after the "Sevens" had all decided to rebel in their entirety with even their Honorary Britannians turning taking up arms against the people they had sworn to serve. It had taken a total of three months for the Britannians to quell the rebellion and it was only quelled because the Britannian authorities had requested Cornelia's assistance and once Cornelia had come, the tide started to turn and eventually the rebels were defeated with many surrendering. Needless to say, it was only afterwards, two months after the war with Japan that Cornelia learned of her sister and half-sister's deaths.

"How dare he," she thought as her eyes hardened in anger and she clenched her fists.

It was like her father was mocking her. Back then, it did not take long for her to realise that the only reason the Emperor had sent her away to quell the "Area Seven" rebellion was to keep her out of the way of the war in Japan. It was as simple as that. God, how she hated that man and now, he had decided to keep her away from him for the foreseeable future. He had decided to make her Viceroy of the "area" that her mother had been murdered in as if to mock her as if the loss of her mother was some sick joke. However, on the upside, she knew that it would give her the excuse to hunt down her mother's killer, a masked woman who apparently called herself, Rei and she could also search for clues as to what happened to Euphemia and Nunnally.

* * *

Back in "Area Eleven" at Ashford Academy, the members of the student council had just finished watching the footage of what had transpired that night and Milly walked over to the TV and switched it off.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm beat," she said with a yawn as she placed her hand over her mouth, "What'd you say we all hit the hay?"

"Yeah, I'm bushed," Rivalz said, yawning as he uncrossed his legs and vaulted off the table, landing on his feet and started walking towards the door, "I had no idea watching TV could be so tiring."

"That's probably just the excitement and anticipation," Nina said as she got up from her seat and followed Rivalz, "I mean, who knew that that Rei or whatever she's called would show up and tell everyone how she was the real murderer."

"Yeah, who would've thought that the Purists would have got it wrong?" Rivalz chuckled with an amused laugh.

Milly shot the blue-haired boy a small glare. The Purists getting it wrong…? That was likely as the Britannian Emperor attending an event that promoted equality and turning over a new leaf. No doubt the Purists had used Suzaku Kururugi as a scapegoat, knowing that he was innocent just to have an excuse to abolish the Honorary Britannian system. Milly was no fool despite her somewhat insane personality. She knew how the Purists had been seeking to expand their influence over "Area Eleven" and she also knew of the tensions between them and the Imperial Family. No doubt, the Imperial Family would believe that the Purists had tried to undermine them if this whole Orange thing was anything to go by. In any case, the Purebloods were finished. Milly knew that the Britannian Emperor was a fearsome man and definitely not an enemy one would want to have. No doubt once he was through with them, the Purists would either be forcibly disbanded; at least in "Area Eleven" or would become a mere shell of their former selves. As a member of a Family that had once been close with one of the Emperor's wives, Milly knew that if Charles zi Britannia was upset and he had you in his sights, then you were lucky if you had just a spec of your dignity left once he was done with you.

Anyway, looking over the room after Nina and Rivalz had gone, she noticed Shirley still sitting in her seat looking at the TV.

"It's time to go Shirley," Milly said, but the orangette did not respond.

"Shirley?" Milly said in a rather confused tone, wondering just what was wrong with this girl.

Shirley still did not respond and Milly then let the corner of her lips curl into an evil grin as she got a rather evil idea into her head as she knew the one thing that would undoubtably get the orangette's attention.

"Hey Shirley, isn't that Euphemia outside making out with Kallen?" the mischievous blonde asked in a tone of fake shock as she mentally started a countdown from the number three.

Three seconds later, Shirley shot up from her seat and rushed over to the window with a rather fearful look on her face and then looked on in confusion as she saw no one outside before she heard Milly's laughter from behind her.

"Madam President, that was uncalled for!" the orangette said, totally outraged.

"Sorry, but it was the only way to get your attention," Milly said as she struggled to calm herself down.

"Oh," Shirley said as she looked around the room and noticed that Nina and Rivalz had already left and then her cheeks flushed red in embarrassment, "I'm sorry about that Madam President, but I was deep in thought."

"Were you now?" Milly said in a teasing tone as she flashed an evil grin at the orangette, "Thinking of ways to have some alone time with Euphemia?"

It had of course been a joke, but Shirley's expression quickly became one of outrage.

"I told you before that there's nothing going on between me and Euphie!" she stated in pure outrage, "So stop making those outrageous suggestions! I'm not gay."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Milly said, waving her hands in front of her in defence as Shirley looked ready to take a swing at her, "Just what were you thinking about then?"

"I was just curious about Rei's accomplice, the person driving Prince Clovis's car," Shirley said, having quickly calmed down, "I'm not so sure, but when I saw her hair colour, I couldn't help be ask myself if it was Kallen."

Milly just let out a laugh.

"Kallen, oh come on Shirley, you know that Kallen's sick," she said, waving it off, "Why do you think she only shows up on once in a blue moon occasions? It was why my grandfather suggested that we induct her into the student council in the first place."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Shirley figured as she thought it over, "But the hair colour… I wonder if Kallen has a twin sister."

Milly laughed.

"It's probably just coincidence," she concluded with a wave of her hand, "Just because Kallen has a rare hair colour doesn't mean that she's the only one with that hair colour. Besides, I know for a fact that Kallen doesn't have any siblings… well she did have an older brother, but he's now dead."

"Oh, how sad," Shirley said as she thought about Kallen and the prospect of her having a dead sibling.

"Anyway," Milly said, interrupting her thoughts, "It's time we got back to the dorms. I don't know about you, but I'm tired."

Shirley nodded as she made her way to the door, though she could not help but wonder just what Kallen's situation was. The person who was obviously Rei's accomplice looked a bit like Kallen, but Shirley could not be a hundred percent sure as the woman had been wearing a white chauffeur hat and a visor over her eyes. However, she had Kallen's hair colour, thought her hair had been spiky and fanned out at the back as opposed to Kallen's straight hair. Of course, it could be that Milly was right and that it was coincidence. Kallen's hair colour was indeed rare, but no doubt others had the same hair colour. Maybe she was just jumping to conclusions like she normally did whenever it came to situations concerning Euphemia, but still, something inside her just would not let it lie.

"I must know," she told herself quietly, "I must know if Kallen has a twin sister she doesn't know about."

* * *

**Author's Notes **– That wraps up another chapter. I finished up with the whole Suzaku situation as well as established a few things, such as Cornelia's quest for vengeance, as I said before, Rochelle would be a posthumous plot device, namely Cornelia's driving force and ironically, she's going to be hunting her own sister whom she believes to be dead. As for Suzaku himself, he'll still have his moments with Euphemia, though he won't know she's Rei, another irony. Euphemia has her sister and best friend chasing her down and neither of them realise it and now Shirley's curious about Kallen, though she doesn't really believe its Kallen; just a twin sister that Kallen doesn't know about. You know how Shirley jumps to conclusions easily and how it was used as a running gag for the early part of the series in R1 and since she believes Kallen to be sick, she goes for the next best thing. Anyway, Rolo will be making his debut at Ashford soon and will be doing his best to mingle while keeping an eye on Euphemia or trying to. Anyway, I managed to get the poll I mentioned last chapter up on my profile and I would appreciate it if you give me your votes. I'd like to know who you think should be the final antagonist and there are four choices in which to choose from.


	16. Calm before the storm

**Code Geass – Euphemia of the Revelation  
****  
Calm before the storm**

**Disclaimer **– Code Geass is the property of Sunrise, Bandai Entertainment and Ichiro Okouchi, so I don't own anything afflicted with Code Geass.

* * *

**Warnings **– Strong language, strong violence, Euphemia OOC (obviously), yuri, possible lemons in later chapters (unsure)

* * *

In the middle of the Arabian Desert in the Middle Eastern Federation a group of seven brownish white Bamides Knightmare Frames sat in wait for the invading Britannian forces to make their move.

"Open fire!" a voice from the Bamides in the middle at the front came as its long range cannon locked onto a Britannian main battle tank and fired.

The blast hit the lead tank of the opposing Britannian forces, prompting the others to return fire. However, their shots were ineffective against the Bamides' heavy armour as the Knightmare Frames advanced on the group of tanks firing their long range cannons, which made short work of the Britannian forces.

Unlike the traditional Britannian-style Knightmare Frames, the Bamides units did not resemble a human shape in any way; built more like a tank with a three legs in a tripod formation with the third leg at the back. The Bamides did have shoulders at the side of their heads with two missile launchers; one mounted atop each shoulder and two machine guns mounted beneath the shoulders; the left one smaller than the right and the long range cannon was built into the stomach area. Also, instead of the Landspinner Propulsion System used by the Britannian Knightmares, the Bamides all used Hover Units that were capable of levitating them slightly above the ground and these Bamides units were equipped with sand panels that use magnetic force to levitate them even higher to avoid any obstructions within the desert terrain and with their colour scheme enabling them to blend in with the desert sands, plus their effectiveness in long-range combat made the Bamides unit quite deadly in the desert and surrounding rough terrains as they could float silently and pick their enemies off at a distance.

However, as the smoke and dust whipped up from the Bamides units' attacks started to settle, a large group of Britannian Knightmare Frames emerged; speeding towards the Bamides units. With the exception of the leading two, the Knightmares were all a dark grey colour; though the two leading the group were dark purplish pink and all Knightmares had capes attached to their backs. The majority of them had bluish grey capes, but the two in the lead had dark navy blue capes and all Knightmares were equipped with their own version of sand panels as the desert sands would be difficult for their landspinners to grip and would have slowed them down quite significantly.

* * *

"Gloucesters?" a man inside the bridge of the bridge of the lead Bamides unit said in astonishment.

"They're supposed to be in Serupham," another man said.

Unlike the Britannian Knightmares that only required one person to operate it; the Bamides required a large crew to operate it. Inside the lead Bamides sat the bearded commander with two men in identical green uniforms standing behind him at either side.

* * *

Outside, the Gloucesters continued their advance, zigzagging their way towards the Bamides. Unfortunately, being so huge, the Bamides lacked speed and manoeuvrability and with only their machine guns as close-range combat weapons, as well as no way to attack from the sides or from behind made them easy targets for the smaller speedy Gloucesters.

* * *

"Shoddy oversized imitation Knightmares," the pilot of the leading Gloucester on the left, Andreas Darlton said from inside his cockpit with a disproving snarl as he found the oppose Knightmares' performance pathetic.

* * *

"They would have been wise to surrender from the start," the pilot of the leading Gloucester on the right, Gilbert G.P. Guilford said in agreement; having heard Darlton's comment over his communicator.

* * *

The Gloucesters then got to work, using their stun tonfas to make short work of the Bamides units, even as those inside struggled to remain on their feet.

However, as the Bamides fell, the nearby base that they were defending suddenly exploded into flames, grabbing everyone's attention.

* * *

"What?" the commander inside the lead Bamides said in shocked horror and surprise as he turned his head towards an opening in the bridge that displayed what was outside and saw a single Gloucester wielding a golden jousting lance standing amid the flames.

However, unlike the other Gloucesters, this one looked remarkably different. Beneath where its factsphere sensor was situated at the front of its head was decorated in the shape of the front of an armoured knight's helmet with two horn-like antenna arrays; one either side of its head. It almost had an ornamental piece of waist armour adorning one of the Britannian Imperial Family's many emblems between its legs. The Gloucester was a slightly lighter shade of purplish pink than the two who had led the frontal assault with golden marking placed at various parts of its body and like the other Gloucesters, it to adorned a cape, only it was white.

"So Cornelia…" the Bamides commander said in shock and disbelief as he realised just who it was that was piloting the unique Gloucester, "A single unit did this?"

It was obvious what had happened. The Britannians had attacked from the front, distracting the Bamides while Cornelia had snuck by them undetected and destroyed the base they were defending and they had also used the tanks as sacrifices as when the Bamides destroyed them, the Gloucesters went in using the smoke, dust and sand as cover to move in on the unsuspecting crews of the Bamides units and by the time the Gloucesters became visible, it had been too late for the Bamides to lock onto them and with their long range cannons. After that, the battle had been decided. The Middle Eastern Federation had lost in their last stand and now Britannia had another conquered nation to its list of areas.

However, before the commander could ponder on this further, an orange glow caught his attention, causing him to turn back and face the front and his eyes widened as he realised that the control panel was going to explode, which it did a moment later before he or his two associates had a chance to react.

* * *

Outside, the Gloucesters all quickly moved away from the Bamides units as plumes of smoke bellowed up from their damaged insides as they started to short-circuit before they exploded in a spectacular fashion as Cornelia's Gloucester continued to stand amid the flames of the burning base.

"Another victory," Cornelia said from inside her Gloucester's cockpit with a hint of boredom in her voice; not too happy at having won that battle rather easily, "Area Eighteen has been established."

What she wanted was a challenge; to face off against someone that could put both her strategic mind and her Knightmare piloting skills to the test. She wanted to face off against someone who would prove rather difficult to defeat or at least not as easy as the commander of the opposing Middle Eastern Federation forces. It was just another easy win for her and with a series of easy wins over the past seven years, Cornelia found herself becoming tired of how repetitive it had become. Not one enemy commander over the years had managed to surprise her or forced her to have to work too hard for her victories and it left her feeling rather hollow as the people who could have really challenged her were either; in the case of her younger half-brother, Lelouch, dead or; in the case of her older half-brother, Schneizel on the same side as her.

"My Lady, about our next course of action," Darlton's voice came over the Knightmare's communicator as his face appeared in the cockpit's display monitor in a new window over the display of the burning base and another window displaying the congregation of Gloucesters.

"Sorry to have you clean up after my foolish mother and my coward of a younger brother," Cornelia replied somewhat apologetically, clearly not too happy about her next assignment.

"Please don't apologise My Lady," Darlton replied in an understanding tone, "We live to serve and our place it with you."

Cornelia then let a satisfied smirk creep onto her face as she knew that there was a positive side to her assignment as "Area Eleven's" new viceroy.

"Do you think Area Eleven needs our usual treatment?" the princess asked curiously; referring to her ruthless and relentless crackdowns on terrorist activity.

"Yes My Lady," Darlton said in agreement as he knew just how ruthless and unforgiving his princess was when it came to dealing with terrorists.

"Good," Cornelia responded with a nod before the window displaying Darlton closed down and the purple-haired princess glanced slightly to her left.

"I'll drive you into the open Rei," she thought; her eyes narrowing as she remembered Schneizel's call about the fate of her mother a few hours earlier and how he had gone on to show her footage of this Rei's confession at the court martial of that Honorary Britannian who had been initially labelled as the culprit, "Mother will be avenged."

She especially vowed to avenge the destruction of the hexagonal ruby that Rei had destroyed; an heirloom passed down to all the first-born women in her mother's family on her grandmother's side for generations; though Cornelia knew with Rochelle being the narcissist that she was would not have passed it down to her and would have no doubt kept it for herself and would have rather be buried while still wearing it.

As it stood, Cornelia had not particularly liked her mother due to her narcissistic nature and total disregard of both her daughters while they were growing up. Cornelia remembered that she had practically raised her sister, Euphemia from the moment she was born until she and Nunnally had both been sent off to Japan as political bargaining chips. However, aside from that and Rochelle's pathological hatred of Lady Marianne, they both got on pretty well together; even if it was only on a professional business level and it through those interactions Cornelia had hoped that her mother would change. She had hoped that she could convince her mother that what she believed and what she was doing was wrong and perhaps gain an ally in her eventual campaign of revenge against her father for what he had done to both Euphemia and Nunnally as she held him responsible for their demise.

"And who knows," she went on in her thoughts as she calmed down, "I may even find clues leading to their bodies' whereabouts. They deserve a proper burial and I guarantee that they will have it after I bring that man down."

That was another positive about her assignment. She could look for clues as to the locations of her sister and half-sister's dead bodies and try to find out what exactly happened to them. She also planned on giving them both a proper burial after she had dealt with her tyrannical father and have their bodies flown back to the homeland for a proper funeral; not that she had any interest whatsoever in the throne, but she knew that in order to make her plans come to fruition, she had to seize the throne, though she planned to abdicate once her plans were complete and settle down.

"I can hardly wait," she concluded with a rather excitable smirk on her face.

After all, after seeing what Rei had managed to pull off; standing in front of and escaping from a full military convoy; Cornelia figured that perhaps she just may have found her challenge in Rei.

* * *

Meanwhile at the Lamperouge residence in "Area Eleven", Euphemia finally arrived home after her masquerade as Rei. In truth, she was rather depressed about Suzaku and his refusal to join her due to his naïve stubbornness and belief that any results gained through wrongdoing were worthless. In truth, she was rather frustrated at his naivety. Seriously, what was up with him? He clearly had no clue that his so-called "court martial" had been one major stitch-up engineered by the Purist Faction to gain credibility and expand their influence. It was somewhat infuriating to the pinkette just how thick-headed Suzaku actually was. She had had half a mind to beat it into him, but the knowledge that he was a lot stronger than her and would have undoubtedly overpowered her prevented her from following through with that course of action and she was also thankful that she had chosen not to reveal her true identity, though she had been planning to.

"I swear Suzaku, the next time we see each other, I'm gonna give you a good kick in the…" she thought, feeling a wave of anger rush through her and trailed off, leaving the last part of her sentence to the imagination, "I can't believe you'd do something so stupid."

She had to admit that had she revealed herself to Suzaku, it would have made things a lot more awkward and she would have undoubtedly have had to have used her Geass to save herself. Suzaku had a strong sense of justice, Euphemia knew and she knew that Suzaku would have told the authorities about her had she revealed herself as she knew his sense of justice would have overpowered their friendship. He would have threatened to turn her in and she would have had to have used her Geass to stop him and no matter what, Euphemia vowed that if Suzaku was going to join her, he would do it of his own freewill and not due to the supernatural influence of Geass.

"Lady Euphemia," the familiar voice of Sayoko came, bringing the exiled princess out of her thoughts and back to reality.

Euphemia groaned, clearly not in the mood to deal with Sayoko at the moment, but stopped herself from lashing out when she heard Sayoko's upset and somewhat panicked tone.

"What is it Sayoko?" she asked in concern; knowing that not many things caused the maid to become upset, "Is something wrong?"

"Someone's in the dining room with Lady Nunnally," Sayoko said, sounding a bit calmer, though the agitation was still evident, "Don't worry though; I don't think she's harmed your half-sister, but her clothes… I think that she may have…"

Euphemia's eyes widened in shock and then she let out a frustrated sigh.

"Does this person have long light green hair and yellow orange like eyes?" she asked simply, clearly not happy as it appeared that C.C. had apparently decided to wander and had undoubtedly been caught as she was in no mood to deal with the immortal witch at the moment.

"Yes," Sayoko said as her eyes widened in surprise, "You know her?"

"Unfortunately," Euphemia groaned in dissatisfaction and then sighed, shaking her head before turning to stare at Sayoko, "Don't worry about it, I'll handle this."

She then made her way to the dining room leaving Sayoko staring after her with a puzzled look on her face.

"I wonder who that girl could be and just how does she know Lady Euphemia?" she said aloud to herself as a worrying thought crept into her mind as she remembered the restraining outfit that she had seen the intruder wearing, "Is she someone looking for revenge because Lady Euphemia helped put her away?"

* * *

Meanwhile, Euphemia walked up to the dining room door as she had decided to have a word with C.C. about roaming around.

"I'm back," she said as the door opened and she walked in deciding to play it as if she had no idea that C.C. was inside.

"Welcome home Euphemia," C.C. said as she turned to face her from her position as she sat next to Nunnally at the right side of the table.

Euphemia stopped and glared at C.C. as the door closed behind her.

"I'm so glad, I was worried," Nunnally said, facing Euphemia from her position to C.C.'s right.

"I'm assuming you ate out tonight, judging by your appearance," C.C. said dismissively as she took a blue paper-folded crane bird and placed it beside a red one and a green one that had already been made since Nunnally had been explaining to her what origami was.

"Thank goodness, I thought maybe you'd gotten caught up in all the uproar caused by that mysterious woman, Rei," Nunnally explained in a relieved tone; relieved that her half-sister was alright and hadn't been caught in the crossfire of Rei's plans and she turned to face down at the table, "I tried calling you, but you didn't answer your cell phone."

As she spoke, C.C. had taken a pink piece of paper and after holding it up to look at it for a brief moment, she set it back on the table and started folding it as she ignored the conversation between the half-sisters.

"I wanted to tell you, Miss C.C.'s been waiting for you as well," Nunnally went on as she turned to face her half-sister again.

"She has?" Euphemia said, feigning surprise, knowing that though Nunnally could not see her, she could still hear her perfectly.

Nunnally then giggled.

"Your friend goes by such an unusual name," she went on, feeling a lot happier now that her big half-sister was back safe and sound, "Only her initials."

"I'll say," Euphemia said, nodding in agreement, "And don't ask what those initials mean because she has absolutely no intentions of telling me."

"I see," Nunnally replied with a sigh and then decided to change the subject, "Anyway, I was just wondering, is C.C. your girlfriend?"

Euphemia's eyes widened rather considerably to the point that C.C. would not have been surprised if her eyeballs shot out from their sockets.

"J-j-just w-w-w-where d-d-did you g-get that i-idea Nunnally?" Euphemia stuttered as she looked at her little half-sister in shock; unable to believe how she came to wonder such a thing, "W-w-w-we're b-b-both girls."

"Well, the way Miss C.C.'s been talking about you, I thought that maybe… well you know how Shirley's always after you," Nunnally tried to explain, causing Euphemia to turn and glare at C.C. who was still in the process of folding the paper she had and ignoring them both like they weren't there, which rather infuriated her.

"She made a promise about our future together," C.C. spoke up without stopping what she was doing, though she did turn to face Euphemia, "Right?"

Euphemia's glare intensified as she narrowed her eyes on the immortal witch.

"Future together?" Nunnally said questioning; her voice filled with wonder, "You mean like something like marriage?"

"No!" Euphemia said rather hurriedly in alarm before calming down, "No, that isn't what she was talking about. It's like… eh…She's kidding around."

"No I'm not," C.C. replied as she continued her work with the paper and shot Euphemia a rather mischievous smirk.

"Well, I have to say that I'm surprised you swing that way," Nunnally said as she turned to face down at the table again, "But everyone's different, aren't they? But I don't see why something like that should be considered strange just because it's not the norm. I think that love shouldn't be determined by gender, so I have no problems if you want to be with another… uh…?"

As Nunnally had been talking Euphemia had walked over to the table and eying a cup of tea, had picked it up and thrown it onto the floor, causing the cup to smash and the contents to spill onto the floor and cutting Nunnally off before she could finish.

"Oh C.C. look what you've done, you're soaking wet," Euphemia said, glad that Nunnally could not see, though she was upset that she had been forced to take advantage of her half-sister's blindness.

"Come on, let's get you to the bathroom into a dry change of clothes," she went on as she grabbed C.C. and shot her a glare that said, "Open your mouth and you'll regret it" and started to usher her out of the dining room by pushing her, "Nunnally, stay here and I'll clean that up in a minute… and she was kidding before, kidding… just a dumb joke, that's all. The "future together" she was referring to was a business partnership; nothing like what she was implying. She likes messing with me to get a rise out of me."

C.C. found the whole thing entertaining as she felt Euphemia forcibly usher her out of the room and decided to comply as she wanted to speak with Euphemia about this problem she had for a while now and had been unable to talk about before due to Euphemia being preoccupied with other things.

Sayoko, who had followed Euphemia to the dining room and heard the entire conversation just looked on in amazement.

"Oh my," she said quietly to herself, "And I thought it was just Miss Shirley's obsession, but could Lady Euphemia actually be into other girls?"

"Oh Sayoko," Euphemia said as she noticed the maid standing not that far away, "Just leave the mess in the room, I'll clean it up myself after I deal with her."

She then continued to usher C.C. towards her room and Sayoko walked into the dining room and found a somewhat confused Nunnally sitting alone. She also noticed the smashed cup and tea on the floor and despite Euphemia telling her to leave it alone, she decided to clean it up anyway as she knew that Euphemia may very well forget about it due to whatever it was that was going on between her and this C.C. girl.

However, Sayoko did appreciate Euphemia's comments. Euphemia was always like this; cleaning up after herself whenever she had made a mess. Sayoko despite being the maid found that she did very little in the way of housework as Euphemia always insisted on giving her a helping hand, which rather touched the Japanese woman greatly. She remembered one time when she had become rather ill with the flu and Euphemia had done all the chores as well as help nurse her back to health. She remembered hearing a heated argument between Euphemia and the doctor she had called out as the doctor refused to treat her because she was an "Eleven" and that was pretty much the norm. Most of the Japanese who had jobs were considered pretty much as slaves with their employers hiring and firing them indiscriminately. They cared nothing for the health of their staff and when one of the "Elevens" became sick, too tired to work or injured themselves to the point where it was impossible for them to continue working, they employer would just fire them and hire someone else to take their place and no Britannian doctor would care to treat them. However, despite this, Euphemia had convinced the doctor to grudgingly treat her as she had told him that she was irreplaceable and she was unable to find anyone else to replace her and Euphemia even went as far as to pay him triple the amount that it normally would have cost.

Another incident was when Sayoko had injured her back and tried to continue her work, but Euphemia had caught on and forced her to rest and even helped her with her back. She really did adore the Lamperouge siblings. To them, she knew that she was not just their personal maid; she was part of their family and she had quickly come to regard them both as if they were her daughters. She loved them both to bits and vowed that she would do everything in her power to protect them both. After all, before the war with Britannia broke out, she had been the 37th successor to the Shinozaki School of martial arts and therefore was quite skilled in martial arts and a lot stronger than she looked. Like the majority of Japanese, she had a desire to liberate her country and was hoping to someday join a liberation group. However, her only conditions were that Euphemia and Nunnally would not be harmed and that they would not target innocent civilians as she knew that the terrorist attacks against the Britannian populace did little if anything in getting them closer to achieving their overall goal.

"Perhaps this Rei could be the one," she thought in wonder as she remembered seeing Rei on television crash Suzaku Kururugi's court martial and confessed to being the real culprit who murdered Rochelle li Britannia and injured Prince Clovis.

Despite the apparent release of poison gas, no one was hurt and she remembered afterwards the reporter reporting that tests on the "gas" had revealed that it had been nothing more than harmless coloured smoke. Rei had obviously used the smoke as a clever ruse to create enough chaos to make good her escape, though how she managed to convince Jeremiah Gottwald to help her was a complete mystery as it was clear he had been ready to kill her before she had mentioned this Orange thing and she recalled Jeremiah's posture immediately afterwards to be one of confusion before he apparently did a complete one-eighty. In any case, not a single innocent had met their demise.

* * *

Meanwhile, after Euphemia had made it to her room, she switched on the light and thrust C.C. onto her bed.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?" she asked demandingly as she glared at the green-haired immortal.

"I was bored," C.C. said casually as she stood up and turned to look out the window; not bothering to glance at the pinkette, which only served to infuriate Euphemia, "I need to deal with my boredom somehow."

"I see," Euphemia said, shaking her head as she sighed, "I suppose you want me to do something about it."

"That's right," C.C. said as she turned to face the window completely with her back to Euphemia, "That's what I've been trying to tell you before, but you were always too preoccupied with other things. Anyway, do you like the power I gave you?"

She then turned briefly to look back at Euphemia.

"What's that supposed to mean?" the pinkette asked as she briefly activated her Geass and dismissed it almost immediately.

"What, dissatisfied?" C.C. said in a tone of mock surprise as she jumped backwards and landed on Euphemia's bed in a sitting position.

"On the contrary, I'm grateful," Euphemia replied simply, "I'll admit, that once per person limitation is a bit of a setback, but nothing major. It shouldn't be too difficult to find ways round it. In any case, Geass allows me to speed up my schedule tremendously, which is a huge help."

"Your schedule?" C.C. asked curiously.

"You remember, don't you?" Euphemia said as she brought her left arm across her stomach with her hand holding her right side and rested the elbow of her right arm on her with her right hand over her right eye, "My schedule for eradicating Britannia's corruption. I'd have had to wait much longer before I could've made the initial move."

"You believe you can destroy it simply by using that power?" C.C. asked as she lay down on the bed, spreading her arms out at her side as she brought her left foot up to rest on the bed and turned her head to stare at Euphemia curiously.

"I intended to do it without this power," Euphemia replied as she brought her hand over her face and stopped when her left eye was between her index and middle fingers.

"I just knew she'd turn out to be a fascinating girl," C.C. said to herself aloud as she turned her head to look up at the ceiling.

"Anyway, I'll see what I can do about your situation with regards to your boredom," Euphemia went on as she changed the subject, "And supposing I wasn't after the information that I'm interested in; what would you have done then? I'm sure the military is after you."

"Not the entire military, only a small faction of it," C.C. replied in her usual neutral tone, "So it wouldn't have been too hard for me to have found a hiding place. I probably would've come here anyway."

She then quickly got out of the restraining suit, though Euphemia was thankful that she quickly manoeuvred herself so that her body was under the covers before she could really see anything.

"Huh, you mean you would have sought me out anyway?" Euphemia said in a tone of shocked surprise.

"Of course, you and I have a contract after all," C.C. replied as she brought the top of the covers up over her mouth, "I can't you dying on me, now can I? At least not until you've fulfilled you end of the contract."

Euphemia groaned as she glared at the immortal witch.

"That's my bed you know," she said in a rather demanding tone that clearly said, "Get out of the bed or else".

"If you're a good host, then you'd sleep on the floor," C.C. replied rather uncaringly, clearly not at all affected by Euphemia's glare.

"Don't joke around," Euphemia said with a hint of warning in her tone.

"My getting caught would cause trouble for you to Euphemia li Britannia," C.C. countered, reminding Euphemia of the potential consequences for her, though Euphemia also interpreted it as a threat; that C.C. was threatening to sell her and Nunnally out if she was caught.

"Don't threaten me like that," Euphemia said as she walked over to the bed and placed her hand beside C.C.'s body and loomed over her, "I've come too far to let all my plans go to waste because some immortal witch ranted us out in exchange for her freedom. Britannia is my fight."

"Then where do you want me to go?" C.C. replied in her usual tone, "I'll leave if you want, but if I wonder the streets, they'll find me."

"That didn't stop you before when I noticed you outside Okubo train station wearing my stuff," Euphemia replied in an "as a matter of fact" tone.

"I took a gamble then," C.C. admitted with a shrug, "I just had to see how your meeting with Kallen and her cohorts went."

"I told you, leave Britannia to me, that's my situation," Euphemia replied as her glare intensified.

"I hate stubbornness," C.C. said in a rather offended tone as she turned to face the wall and brought the covers over her head.

Euphemia then sighed and stood up before she sat down next to the bed and started gathering the discarded restraining suit.

"You sure do take things casually, don't you?" she said at length, "How did you manage to stave off your boredom before I caught you with Nunnally? What did you do before you were captured by the military and what's the deal with that so-called contract you spoke of…?"

"Good night Euphemia," C.C. said with a sense of finality in her voice, letting Euphemia know that she would not answer her.

Euphemia only groaned in frustration as her eyes moved onto C.C.'s still form, glaring at her.

"This isn't over yet," she thought as she turned her head to face the sleeping immortal, "Trust me. I will get the answers I want from you one way or another."

She then stood up and walked towards the door, planning on cleaning the mess she made earlier that she used as an excuse to leave the dining room with C.C. However, as soon as the door opened, Euphemia stopped suddenly as Sayoko nearly stumbled in and from the looks of her position; Euphemia was guessing that she had been listening in.

"Sayoko!" she said in alarm and glanced at C.C's sleeping form and was relieved that the immortal had not stirred and then continued in a hushed tone, "How much did you hear?"

"Enough," Sayoko replied in a voice that was barely above a whisper as she picked herself up and then both she and Euphemia walked out of the room, "Don't worry Lady Euphemia, I already cleaned up that spill in the dining room."

"What?" Euphemia said in surprise, "Sayoko, I told you that I would get that."

"Yes, but I thought that you would forget as you were clearly occupied with that C.C. girl," Sayoko explained as her look became serious, "By the way, just what was that about anyway? What's this power she's given you and what's that about a contract?"

Euphemia's eyes widened in shock.

"And just what were you really doing a few days ago?" Sayoko went on as she continued to interrogate Euphemia like a mother scolding her child for doing something wrong, "The day you came home really late was also the same day that crisis in the Shinjuku Ghetto occurred and where your mother, Rochelle li Britannia met her end."

Euphemia sighed as she shook her head. This was not what she had been planning on at all. Now Sayoko was suspicious of her and that was something she had not planned for. Of course, she knew Sayoko well enough to know that she would not turn her in as Sayoko knew of her hatred for her own country and also knew Sayoko's secret resentment for what had happened to her homeland. However, she had planned for Sayoko to take care of Nunnally while she was out on her escapades as Rei. As much as she wanted to be with her half-sister, she knew that she could not stop now. She had already made her opening gambit and knew that she had to be there to meet the enemy's retaliation. Also she knew that she and Nunnally could not maintain their façade forever. She knew that it was only a matter of time before someone spotted them and recognised them and then it would be back to Pendragon and back to that man and Euphemia was determined that would not happen; so she saw this as a necessity. It was something that had to be done for both her sake and Nunnally's as well.

"Okay, I'll tell you," she said to the Japanese maid, "But just so you know, I don't plan on getting Nunnally involved."

Sayoko nodded.

"And I would like you to keep what I'm about to tell you to yourself," Euphemia went on, to which Sayoko nodded.

"Okay," she said simply.

Euphemia then went on to explain what had been going on starting from when she and Rivalz were almost run over by the terrorist trunk containing C.C.'s capsule.

* * *

The next day at the Special Corp base, Cecile was holding up her mini-computer as it showed the results of the latest terrorist attacks.

"Kushima, Kochi, Hiroshima," Cecile said as the window on her computer first displayed a building with a plume of smoke bellowing front the side and then moved down to a picture of a building that had been crashed into by a grey armoured van and finally moved down to a picture of a group of Britannian civilians held hostage by Japanese terrorists, "This has been the seventh occurrence since that mysterious woman named Rei raised her head."

"It seems the other groups are following her lead and putting up a valiant fight," Lloyd hypothesised simply as since Rei's appearance and apparent stroke of luck; the other terrorist groups had become bolder and were intensifying the frequency of their attacks.

"And now suspicious about that Orange thing have cost Margrave Jeremiah his command," Cecile said as she gave her superior a rundown on the aftermath of the failed court martial.

"Maybe he wasn't good enough," Lloyd went on with his hypothesises, "Thanks to him, connections between the police and administration are screwed up. It's made a fine mess for us as well."

* * *

Meanwhile, Jeremiah was glaring ahead of himself as his eyes twitched furiously. Outside the Government Bureau where a Purist Faction Sutherland was based, he had been giving a briefly to the Purist Faction pilots and showed them a wanted notice with Rei's picture on it along with documentation. However, none of the pilots were all that happy to be under his command anymore; blaming him for Rei's escape as he clearly helped her and her accomplice escape with Suzaku Kururugi.

One pilot let out a dissatisfied grunt as he glared at the Margrave. This was not how it was supposed to be. Thanks to that whole Orange thing and Jeremiah's cooperation in the terrorists' getaway, the Purist Faction's popularity had apparently plummeted and hit rock bottom overnight and now the Imperial Family were calling for an investigation since communications between "Area Eleven" and the homeland had been severed for the duration for Suzaku Kururugi's court martial, many people were starting to believe that the Purists had been deliberately seeking to undermine the Imperial Family. In any case, the Purists knew that their hold on power was finished. Once the investigation starts, they knew that it was only a matter of time before the truth about what the "court martial" had really been about made its way into the public domain and once that happened, the public would only see it as confirmation of their suspicions and once Princess Cornelia arrived and knowing how frightening she could be, they were doomed and they had no one to blame other than their leader since as soon as Rei had mentioned the word, "Orange", he had apparently had a change of heart.

* * *

"Help them Tohdoh," the voice of Kusakabe echoed through the dojo of the JLF's hideout as he stood in front of Tohdoh who was in a meditative position and was bugging him to capitalise on Rei's attack, "Rei has thrown the Britannians into chaos. Now is the time for us, the Japan Liberation Front to make our stand."

In truth Kusakabe and a few others were not pleased that this Rei, whom they considered a small-time terrorist had managed to accomplish something that they, the Japan Liberation Front had been incapable of accomplishing. To many, it was an insult; that a small-timer managed to accomplish something of great significance whereas they had been unable to pull off something as spectacular as what Rei had done and on her debut at that. She had apparently infiltrated Britannian security and killed one of their most important people and then in a suicidal fashion; gate-crashed Suzaku Kururugi's court martial and announced that she was the killer and had managed to make her getaway safely while somehow convincing Jeremiah to lend them a helping hand. It made many in the JLF seem like the small-timers and that was something they just could not stand, plus the fact that it was a woman who managed to pull it off only served to intensify the feeling of humiliation among some of them.

Kusakabe feared that with the people's interest shifting to Rei would cause them to forget about the Japan Liberation Front and what was worse, he also feared that the JLF could possibly lose their funding as the people providing them with their funds may decide to shift their funding to Rei as she had managed to outdo the JLF and would probably feel that they'd be getting their money's worth as the Japan Liberation Front was not even a single step closer to liberating Japan from when the group was first formed.

"Calm down," Tohdoh scolded as he glared at his colleague, "The information of Kyoto giving the Guren Mk-II to Rei hasn't been confirmed. If we pay too much attention to Rei, we may trip ourselves up."

The Guren Mk-II was a state of the art Knightmare Frame that was capable of overpowering most other Knightmare Frames and was currently in the possession of the Six Houses of Kyoto, a group of Japanese industrialists who were put in charge of "Area Eleven's" industrial affairs as the Britannians felt that having "Elevens" run the country's industries would make the "Numbers" more comfortable knowing that their country's resources were being handled by their own and not Britannians and they also believed that the local economy would run more effectively that way. However, publicly, they were loyal to Britannia and many of the Japanese saw them as traitors and Britannian collaborators, but in private, they had been secretly funding various terrorist groups, using the positions the Britannians had given them to acquire the necessary funding.

As for the Guren Mk-II, many groups had been competing in order to get their hands on it as they knew that it would undoubtedly turn the tide and be able to lay waste to Britannia's Sutherland models. Sure some groups had Knightmare Frames of their own, but none were as strong as Britannia's models as the models they had were just tuned-up obsolete models. The Guren Mk-II would help change that and the JLF were the overall favourites to gain it.

Unfortunately, Kusakabe saw their position in the race under threat from Rei. Rei was just a small-time newbie in his opinion. How dare she show them up? This was an insult. The Guren Mk-II was theirs and theirs alone and he was determined that no one was going to change that.

"Over my dead body," he thought bitterly as mumbled a curse in Japanese, cursing Rei for her apparent success.

Tohdoh just watched him as he stormed out the dojo and had to admit that he knew what Kusakabe was feeling as he also felt the same. However, unlike Kusakabe, he was not one to give into his emotions. Years of martial arts and kendo training had taught him the value of discipline and patience. Like he had said to Kusakabe; if they paid Rei too much attention, it may very well prove to be their undoing. As for the Guren MK-II, he was the favourite to pilot it and though he shared Kusakabe's fears, he was not really all that bothered. If Kyoto gave them the Guren Mk-II then they did, if they didn't then they didn't and that was that. There was nothing he could really do about it.

* * *

Back at the Lamperouge residence, Euphemia sat at the desk next to her computer in her casual clothing as she performed a web search on Suzaku with the computer sitting on the desk and C.C was kneeling on the bed dressed in a white night robe with a box of pizza from Pizza Hut sitting on the bed to her right that she had ordered through Euphemia's credit card and also a book with a picture of Rei on the left-hand page in front on her.

"So what did Orange turn out to be anyway?" she asked the pinkette curiously as she held a slice of pizza.

Euphemia stopped for a moment and glanced at C.C., but then went back to her search, choosing not to reply as revenge for not answering her questions the previous night.

"Well?" C.C. said in a somewhat demanding tone.

Euphemia stopped and then turned to face C.C.

"You know, for someone who isn't willing to answer any questions, you certainly do ask a lot of them," she commented in a tone that let the immortal witch know what her game was.

"If you don't want to answer my questions, you don't have to; just as I don't," C.C. replied in her usual tone of neutrality.

Euphemia sighed as she briefly tilted her head and closed her eyes.

"You really are infuriating, you know that?" she said in defeat, "There is no Orange, it's something I made up, but… the more they claim to be comrades of light-mind, the easier it is to divide them with the thorns of suspicion."

"Hmm," C.C. let out as she turned her attention to the book in front on her, which was about Rei and she looked down at a previous book she'd read on Rei lying on the floor.

"Everyone on Earth is looking for you," she said imply as she leaned over the book, "Because of you, the world is going through an upheaval."

She paused as she lifted her head to look at Euphemia.

"So, is this it?" she went on curiously, "Is this what you wanted to see?"

"No, of course not," Euphemia said as she grabbed the trenchcoat that C.C. had worn when she met her at Okubo and had already inserted her right arm into the sleeve before she stopped and glanced back at the green-haired witch before continuing to put the trenchcoat on and then went over to her closet and pulled out a red cap and a pair of fake square red-framed glasses, "This uproar is simply the means to an end. As much as I wish otherwise, the world is destined to descend into greater chaos. As I told Sayoko last night, as much as I don't want it, it's inevitable that the blood of the innocent will be spilt. That's one of the harsh truths of war; history has shown that innocent civilians have always been caught in the crossfire at some point in the past. I'd be a fool to assume that this would be any different. However, I must do this for both my and Nunnally's sakes and I must succeed so that the innocent victims that will undoubtedly be caught up in it will not have died in vain."

Her face then twisted in anger as she remembered her father and his attitude towards others.

"That man…!" she went on with a growl as a dangerous look soon washed over her face, "It's nothing to him to sacrifice the lives of the innocents. He has no care for the lives of others; even his own subjects. It's nothing to him if they threw their lives away. As I told Suzaku, my target is the corruption within Britannia; not those who are brainwashed by it. That's what terrorists fail to realise. Killing civilians doesn't do anything other than serve to convince the populace that they were right about them and the more convinced they become of it, the more they seek to oppress the Japanese and the more they seek to oppress the Japanese, the more the Japanese will become convinced that their views on the Britannians were correct and it'll encourage more and more of them to become terrorists while the root of the problem remains untouched."

"A cycle of hatred," C.C. said simply, "You'd make a good philosopher."

"If you want to kill a weed, get it by its roots," Euphemia said as she placed the cap over her head and then put on the fake glasses, "And that's just what I intend to do. That man is the root of the weed and I'm the weed killer who going to kill him."

C.C. just looked at Euphemia questioningly.

"Just where are you going?" the immortal asked curiously, "It's a school day and you look dressed to go out. I take it that the trenchcoat, hat and glasses are to prevent you from being recognised as Euphemia li Britannia I take it."

Euphemia nodded with a smirk.

"Oh yes and as for where I'm going… let's just say I'm going to meet up with a friend that I intend to give a good kick in the…"

"Balls," C.C. said as Euphemia trailed off, causing her to groan.

"Don't say it out loud," the pinkette said furiously, "He's still my friend."

"Still sore about how he refused to join you?" C.C. asked as she had already deduced that Suzaku had refused to join her from her mood the previous night as she could tell that Euphemia had not been in the mood to deal with her from looking into her eyes.

"Of course I am!" Euphemia snapped as she shot C.C. a warning glare, telling her to drop it, "I suppose I kind of figured he'd refuse my offer, but not in the way that he did. That idiot believes that Britannia can be changed from within and still hasn't figured out that he was stitched up even after my confession."

"Your right, he is a fool," C.C. said as her eyes widened in amazement, "If Britannia could be changed from within, this would probably still be Japan and the war seven years ago probably would have never taken place."

Euphemia nodded as she made her way towards the door.

"Anyway, what about school?" C.C. asked curiously.

However, just then, the door to the room opened and C.C.'s eyes widened in shocked surprise as a second Euphemia; complete with shortened hair walked in wearing Euphemia's school uniform.

"W-w-what?" C.C. exclaimed, unable to comprehend what she was seeing.

This new Euphemia turned to face her and shot her a smirk.

"Hello there," she said in a perfect imitation of Euphemia's voice before the original chuckled as C.C. lost expression.

"My, my C.C., you seem to be at a loss for words," she chuckled mockingly before turning to face her impersonator, "Looking good, I must say Sayoko."

"Thank you Lady Euphemia," the Euphemia impersonator replied in a different voice, which C.C. recognised as belonging to the Lamperouge siblings' personal maid.

"I already told you to quit with the formalities," Euphemia said to the disguised Sayoko, whom she had to admit look so much like her that it was impossible to tell that she was an impostor.

"My apologies, it's just that… well I guess that I'm just used to addressing my masters with formal titles," Sayoko explained with a sigh, "Tell you what, would you prefer if I addressed you as Euphemia-sama instead?"

"I suppose," Euphemia said with a sigh, "I'm not one to deny you the right to use your native language if you feel the need to do so. The Japanese way doesn't sound as formal as the English."

"Arigato Euphemia-sama," Sayoko said as she performed a traditional Japanese bow to show her politeness.

"So I gather that your maid will be filling in for you during school hours," C.C. deduced as she calmed down and caused Euphemia to glare at her as she had used the same dismissive uncaring tone she had used when referring to Suzaku when she had first told her of Suzaku's predicament after he was arrested.

"Yes and for your information, her name is Sayoko Shinozaki and she's not just my maid, as you put it," Euphemia said in the same tone she had used to scold C.C. after her dismissal of Suzaku, "She's also my friend and I consider her a member of my family, so I appreciate it if you wouldn't insult her.

C.C. just shrugged and went back to reading the book she was reading.

Euphemia groaned frustratingly and turned to face Sayoko.

"Sayoko, you wouldn't mind if I asked you to keep an eye on her while I'm gone, would you?" she asked in a pleading tone, "I simply don't trust her to be left to her own devices."

Sayoko nodded.

"I don't mind at all," she said as she turned to stare at C.C. briefly before turning back to stare at her mistress, "From what you told me last night, you're after information on the Ragnarok Connection, plus she knows who you really are, so even if you weren't after information, it'd be risky to let her go."

Euphemia nodded.

"Uh huh and I'm not sure what my end of this contract entails," she explained as she briefly let her eyes travel to C.C.'s form and then brought her attention back to her impersonator, "I don't particularly trust her to be that honest. There's a lot she hasn't told me and quite frankly, I don't like it."

She then smiled as she thought back to when she discovered Sayoko listening in and how she had turned it to her advantage. With Sayoko here while she was out looking for Suzaku and Sayoko's great impersonation of her had made slipping out a whole lot easier. Of course, it had meant having to tell Sayoko everything; including the fact that she was Rei. However, it had not been as disastrous as she initially thought it would have been. Sayoko had confessed to her that she had hoping to join a liberation movement to liberate Japan, but had stressed that a condition was that neither she nor her half-sister were hurt as she loved them both dearly as if they were her own daughters despite being in the position of servitude. Euphemia had told Sayoko her plans and was honest with her about the potential consequences with regards to innocents. However, Euphemia was determined to keep the civilian death toll at an absolute minimum. Sayoko had vowed to help her in any way she could and Euphemia knew that she had just acquired another ally since with her skills in martial arts, Sayoko would be quite a formidable opponent, though for the moment, Euphemia had told her to stay and protect Nunnally and to keep her from getting involved, which Sayoko was all too happy to comply with as she knew how much Nunnally enjoyed her company.

"Okay, she I'm to impersonate you during all your classes as well as keep an eye on Miss C.C. here," Sayoko said as she turned her head to glance at C.C., who had apparently decided to ignore them as she uncaringly engrossed herself in the book she was reading.

"Uh huh, and there's also some information I want you to look up on the net as well," Euphemia said as they both walked out the door.

"Consider it done Euphemia-sama," Sayoko said in a professional tone.

* * *

**Author's Notes** – First off I want to apologise for the nine-to-ten-month delay. A multitude of things were to blame. First was writer's block as it was coming close to the point where Euphemia made her cannon debut and I was not sure how to handle it, but I think I have it sorted. Another thing was that with all the recent stuff going on with manga and scanlations, I felt a bit dispirited and if that wasn't enough, computer problems also impeded me since the end of April, so for the past six months or so, I felt like my life was going to Hell, but enough about that. If you read back to the previous chapters, then you'll realise that I've edited them; fixing most if not all of the mistakes I noticed in the past. Anyway, I couldn't help but feel that this chapter was not up to my usual standard, but after that long hiatus, I guess that's understandable. Anyway, next chapter, Euphemia will briefly fill in her cannon role (though she won't jump into Suzaku's arms from a window) and as for her cannon placement, I have someone in mind, though it won't be someone who'll have Euphemia's cannon personality. I'm planning for this person to do the things they do as a means of spiting Euphemia, you know as if to say, "This is what the old you would do". As for Sayoko, I wasn't originally planning on having her find out about Euphemia being Rei this early, but hey, when you have a long hiatus, the plot could change and I did it to distinguish it from cannon.


	17. Day in the settlement

**Code Geass – Euphemia of the Revelation**

**Day in the settlement**

**Disclaimer **– Code Geass is the property of Sunrise, Bandai Entertainment and Ichiro Okouchi, so I don't own anything afflicted with Code Geass.

* * *

**Warnings **– Strong language, strong violence, Euphemia OOC (obviously), yuri, possible lemons in later chapters (unsure)

* * *

At the Government Bureau building Suzaku Kururugi stood before a judge as he awaited the results of his court martial, which he had willingly cooperated with after handing himself over to the authorities the previous night after Rei had saved him.

"Case no. 1-0-7, Private Suzaku Kururugi, Area Eleven military forces," the judge announced; his tone completely neutral and professional, "In the murder of her Royal Lady, Rochelle li Britannia and attempted murder of His Highness, Prince Clovis la Britannia, you are no longer a suspect and hereby set free due to lack of evidence."

* * *

A little while later, a confused Suzaku was walking out of the Government Bureau wearing a pair of black shoes, blue jeans, a dark yellowish green jumper and a dark blue jacket that was dark navy blue on the inside and a lighter shade of blue running up the bottom half of the sleeves and two diagonal breast pockets running downwards from the centre out on either side highlighted in the same dark navy blue as the inside of the jack and outlined by the same lighter shade as the bottom of the sleeves with silver zippers. He also had a grey bag slung over his right shoulder and a white plaster over his right cheek and a more traditional light reddish brown plaster on his left from where he had been abused.

"What happened?" he asked himself in a quiet, confused tone, "I'm free."

In truth, he did not know what to make of it. Before, they had been totally convinced that he was guilty of Rochelle's death and had been quite adamant in that and not only that, but he remembered his interrogation with Jeremiah Gottwald and the gun he said had been the murder weapon and how it had his fingerprints all over it. Just what had happened to that gun? Had they realised that they had made a terrible mistake? Or maybe it was Rei's confession and the undeniable proof in the form of Rochelle's ruby that had finally convinced them as he remembered seeing Rochelle wearing that necklace and since Rei had it in her possession and claimed to be the real killer, it was pretty damning evidence, though Suzaku believed that he'd be court martialed and executed anyway as he believed many may have come to believe that he had been an accomplice in the crime if not the culprit himself.

Had it all been a stitch-up like Rei suggested? He knew the Purist Faction and their open resentment for the Honorary Britannian system, but surely they did not want rid of it that badly, did they? Where they really that determined to abolish the Honorary Britannian system that they'd scapegoat one for a most heinous crime as if to say "This is why Elevens shouldn't be allowed in the military" while perfectly happy to let the real culprit off scot-free? That could not be the case, he decided. It simply served no purpose other than to tell the culprit that their actions were of little-to-no consequence and knowing how terrorists operated, he knew that many would interpret that sort of attitude as an insult. Maybe that's why Rei rescued him and announced her guilt. Terrorists tended not to deny their misdeeds. Whenever a terrorist attack occurred, the terrorists mostly always came out and admitted their guilt as if to let the Britannians know exactly what they were capable of and that they could strike at any time.

Such action sickened him, which was why he had turned down Rei's offer to join her. He could understand why Rei and the other terrorists did what they did though. After all, being demoted to a level that was considered garbage in your own country by foreign invaders would drive just about anybody to rebel and given the attitude of many Britannians; it only served to encourage the locals to engage in acts of terrorism, but despite his understanding of it, Suzaku saw it as meaningless. It did not help their situation and only served to widen the rift between the Britannians and the Japanese even further. The Japanese were only proving the Britannians' views of them right and it led to the Britannians oppressing them even further. Besides, even if by some miracle, the Japanese managed to regain their independence, Suzaku believed that it would be for nothing if the Britannians' views of the "Elevens" did not change and so he sought to change their views from within; believing that if he did a good job and impressed someone, he'd move up in rank and along the way, people would start to see that not all "Numbers" were heathens and barbarians and one day, he hoped to be promoted to the Knights of the Round, the twelve strongest knights in Britannia with independence from the regular military forces and who were answerable only to the Emperor of Britannia himself and he hoped that he would someday become the Knight of One, the strongest of all the knights and who had the privilege of choosing an "Area" to govern over if he so chose and that was Suzaku's ultimate goal; to obtain the rank, Knight of One so he could govern Japan and make things better for the Japanese and change Britannia's views on the world. He agreed with Rei that Britannia was corrupt, but disagreed with her in her methods of dealing with it. All Rei's methods would do was cause unnecessary bloodshed and lead to even more unnecessary bloodshed and in the end, Britannians could end up becoming the oppressed and the "Numbers" the oppressors and nothing would have changed at all… well aside from the oppressors and oppressed exchanging roles that is.

The way Suzaku saw it was that only through peaceful means could change occur. A nation built on the blood of the dead was meaningless as Britannia would still be as corrupt as ever and probably shift its intentions elsewhere if not choose to retaliate in an attempt to reclaim their lost "Area" feeling that their views on the natives were even more justified than they were before and nothing would change.

"Psst," Suzaku heard a low voice, causing him to stop and look around to see where the voice had come from.

However, he saw no one other than a lone person leaning against the nearby lamppost to his left with a newspaper in front of her face… at least Suzaku assumed that it was a woman judging from the style of the red shoes and orange skirt she wore, most of which was covered by a long grey trenchcoat.

Shrugging his shoulders, he turned to walk away, assuming that he had been hearing things as he doubted the woman was the voice due the fact she looked uninterested in him.

"Psst, hey Suzaku, are you blind or something?" the hushed voice that Suzaku had to admit, sounded rather familiar came, "Over here you dingbat."

Suzaku turned back to face the woman, who now had lowered the newspaper a bit and Suzaku noticed the red cap on her head and lose strand of pink hair coming down over the right side of her forehead. Curiosity overcame him as he slowly walked closer to the woman and getting closer, he noticed the red square framed glasses over her eyes and the familiar blue colour of her eyes caused his own to widen in surprise as he now realised who this was.

"Eu-Euphie," he spluttered with a gasp of absolute disbelief, "Y-y-you… what are you…?"

"I saw what happened at your court martial yesterday on TV and how that mysterious Rei or whatever she called herself rescue you," Euphemia explained in a slightly raised, yet still hushed voice, "When I heard that you came back to face your court martial, I was worried that you'd be executed and I guessed that you'd be here, so I was waiting for an opportunity to get inside so I could see you and… well, you're here, aren't you?"

Suzaku's eyes widened in shock as he was unable to believe that his old friend had been willing to risk so much just for an opportunity to see him. Last he remembered, Euphemia and Nunnally had faked their deaths and went into hiding with the intention of evading their father's radar. Did Euphemia not realise just how much of a risk it was to her cover in coming here? Sure, the administration was in disarray right know with Prince Clovis still recuperating in hospital and Jeremiah dealing with that whole Orange affair leaving "Area Eleven" effectively leaderless until the new viceroy took up their new post, but that was not the point. The point was that many of the administration no doubt knew who Euphemia li Britannia was and may have access to some pictures of her when she was younger and if any of those people saw her right now and recalled those pictures, the charade would be over for her.

"I realise what you may be thinking," Euphemia went on as if she could read Suzaku's mind as he opened his mouth to speak, "However, after everything that's happened, I just had to see you. After all, I don't see you for seven years and when we finally do meet again, you attack me due to a misunderstanding."

"Yeah, well… sorry 'bout that," Suzaku said with a nervous chuckle as he scratched the back of his head before his look became serious and his hand went back to his side, "But seriously, I honestly thought you were a terrorist intending to release poison gas."

Euphemia nodded in understanding and then let out a sigh before closing the newspaper and placed it under her left arm.

"Okay, let's get away from here and go somewhere else so we can talk," she suggested as she gave a nervous glance up at the Government Bureau building and shuddered as thoughts of being discovered entered her mind.

"Yeah, I think that it's best you're not seen around here," Suzaku said as he got beside her and placed his arm round her and started to coax her away from the building.

* * *

Unbeknownst to either of them up at an open third-storey window, someone had been looking out and happened to eavesdrop on their conversation, though she could hardly hear what they were saying due to their quiet voices, but she did manage to catch the boy addressing the woman as "Euphie" and this caused the girl to raise an interested eyebrow.

"Euphie huh?" she thought to herself, bringing her hand up to her chin and slowly wrapped her index finger round its base in a massaging motion, "It couldn't be… could it…?"

She seriously hoped not as she and Euphemia had never really gotten along when they were younger. In fact, Euphemia's attitude towards her had been pretty fierce, especially when it came to her pestering Nunnally, whom she could honestly say she despised with a passion and it was not just because her mother was a commoner either. However, her feelings of resentment towards Nunnally had been pretty much one-sided since Nunnally did not return those feelings, but Euphemia, who was just as pacifistic as Nunnally was did. In fact, many of their fights in the past had all been because she had been tormenting Nunnally and Euphemia had stood up for her. In fact she considered Euphemia more of a rival than Nunnally.

Deciding to look into this matter, she immediately walked over to her bed and pulled off the covers with the intention of using them as a rope to get down to the ground and follow the "Eleven" boy and the woman whom she suspected may be her lost half-sister, though if it did turn out to be Euphemia, she had no intentions of telling anyone as the last thing she wanted was Euphemia and possibly Nunnally as well back in her life. Seven years ago when the Emperor sent them both away, the only thing she had said was, "Good riddance" and that was that and since Euphemia had not contacted anyone, she could only assume that Euphemia did not want to return and that suited her just fine.

* * *

Meanwhile in a darkened room that was the Purist headquarters within the Government Bureau, a group of Purists consisting of Kewell and a few others watched as a monitor showing Jeremiah walking with his right hand raised and his head turned towards his raised hand as he was apparently talking to someone off-screen.

"What must get rid of this "Orange" character before Princess Cornelia assumes her new post," Kewell said as the monitor now showed Jeremiah standing between to construction barriers with a Sutherland in the background to the left was a soldier standing in front of it and a transporter to the right of the screen with a solider standing next to it and another soldiers standing right up at the barrier as Jeremiah folded his arms with a rather impatient look on his face.

"Now the loyalty of us Purebloods has been called into question," another member said.

One man stood in front of the others with his back to the monitor, which had another two above it in a split-screen fashion showing the same footage and the control panel underneath them with his hand resting on a chair that was in front of the control panel. One man stood off to his left was his arms folded behind his back and another stood off to the first man's right, also with his arms folded behind his back. Kewell stood next to this man's left with his arms by his side and another man stood a little off to his left with his arms in the same position as the other two.

"Are the reports we've been hearing true?" the man facing the other four said curiously as he leaned forward slightly, "Lord Jeremiah was bribed?"

"Do you know what this "Orange" means?" Kewell asked in a demanding tone, letting the man know that he expected an answer.

"Uh," the man said, looking off to the left with an unsure look on his face.

"It any case, Lord Jeremiah is definitely hiding something," one of the others said before Kewell could reply.

"Saying he can't recall anything," Kewell said in a disgusted tone as he glared at the three-way image of his superior with a contemptuous look in his eyes, "Bartley offered the same excuse."

Though in truth, Kewell did not care much for the truth. What he saw was an opportunity to further his own ambitions. For a long time, he had dreamed of becoming the Purists' leader and had secretly resented Jeremiah as he believed that the leadership position was rightfully his. However, instead of complaining, he had sucked up his pride and grudgingly accepted the way things were, believing his dreams were just that; dreams that could never possibly come true. However, with this whole "Orange" scandal, he saw a chance that things could effectively change for the better. Even if Jeremiah was being truthful, which was doubtful in his opinion, he clearly did not care as this was too good an opportunity to pass up. If he could convince the people that this "Orange" thing was just Jeremiah on his own and not the Purist Faction as a whole, then not only could he effectively gain what he believed had been forever out of his reach, but he could effectively restore the Purists' popularity and honour and then they could possibly regain what they had lost and he'd be hailed as a hero. Of course, their plan to abolish the Honorary Britannian System had gone up in flames with Rei's confession and it was clear to Kewell that Rei had been intending to bring down the Purist Faction with this "Orange", but he was determined to take advantage of it and use it to make his bid for power and in effect; Rei's plan would fail.

"Thank you Rei," he thought with boastful glee, though outwardly he maintained his current expression, "You just provided me with a marvellous opportunity and once I've claimed what's rightfully mine, I'll make you pay for ruining our plan and believing that you could bring us down."

Of course, for his plan to work, he had to dispose of Jeremiah and manipulate the media into believing that he and anyone who decided to remain loyal to him were behind "Orange" and not the entire Purist Faction, but that did not faze him one bit. After all, sacrifices had to be made for things to make progress and Kewell saw Jeremiah as a necessary sacrifice; collateral damage in his grand scheme of things.

* * *

Meanwhile inside the cockpit of the Sutherland situated behind Jeremiah, Villetta observed Jeremiah as he tried explaining something to a crowd as she remembered what happened the previous night and now with Jeremiah claiming he had no memory of helping Rei, even after being shown the footage of how he had decided to let Suzaku Kururugi go and then went berserk when the others, herself included try to stop them from getting away, she could not help but think back to her own experience in the Shinjuku Ghetto with the student and possible mental patient escapee.

"Lord Jeremiah's memory is muddled," she pondered to herself, "Exactly like those of the men in Shinjuku who's Sutherlands were stolen and…"

As she tried to recall her own experience, she found herself drawing a blank as everything seemed to be shrouded in red and she let out a sigh of frustration. For the life of her, she could not remember anything that happened after she had exited her Sutherland after she discovered that student and her mysterious friend and the apparent loss of memory seemed similar to what Jeremiah was suffering from after he came to his senses after Rei and her accomplices had made their getaway with Suzaku Kururugi. Bartley and his men also reported similar incidents in which they had no memory of what they had been doing before Rochelle's death and Prince Clovis's lucky escape. At the time, she had been too caught up in the excitement of finally being able to abolish the Honorary Britannian system despite her misgivings leading up to it to care, but now she had to admit that it was strange.

She then remembered how part of Rei's helmet opened up and she felt that she recognised the colour of Rei's eye as the same colour of the student's eye, but the bird-like insignia that shone up in it was what really peaked her curiosity; a light red glow that seemed to flap before Jeremiah's "episode" and now that Villetta thought about it, the more she started to realise exactly what Rei had done. Whatever that bird-like insignia glowing in Rei's eye was, it had somehow managed to allow Rei to induce some sort of supernatural hypnosis on Jeremiah. It sounded so preposterous and ridiculous and farfetched to be true, but with everything she had seen, what other explanation could there be? Rei had obviously used her hypnosis on those men guarding the G-1 Base in Shinjuku and all of Prince Clovis and Lady Rochelle's personnel to force them to abandon the prince and imperial consort and remembering the deaths of those of the Royal Guard she had discovered before she lost her Sutherland, she had done a little investigation and discovered that the striation marks from the bullets that entered the sides of their necks matched perfectly with the striation marks from bullets fired from their own weapons; meaning they had effectively shot themselves, though now armed with the knowledge of Rei's hypnosis, it was easy to deduce that Rei had used it on them and forced them to kill themselves.

"But if that's true, then…!" she thought as her eyes widened in alarm as she came to a rather startling conclusion and one she had previously dismissed when she noticed Rei's eye colour.

If she was right… and she was almost definitely certain that she was right, it meant that Rei was not an "Eleven" at all, but a Britannian who obviously sympathised with the "Elevens" and it did help give a possible reason as to why Rei had worn that mask. She believed that Rei was either the student or her friend in the strange restraining suit, though after seeing Rei's eye colour, she was almost a hundred percent sure that she was the Britannian student she had met in Shinjuku and this student sympathised with the "Elevens" and that infuriated Villetta greatly.

She was no stranger to "Number" sympathisers as she knew that not all Britannians "got with the program" as it were. However, in her opinion, "Elevens" deserved everything they got just for simply being alive. They were inferior and Britannia was all about survival of the fittest and the strong survived. The strong crushed the weak that justified one's own survival. The weak existed for no other reason other than to be crushed. Those who helped the weak were nothing more than traitors in Villetta's opinion. They were in the same class as the "Numbers" themselves. Such people were stain on Britannia's society and should be exterminated. The thought of a treacherous Britannian leading a rebellion was unthinkable, though deep down Villetta feared that those "Number" sympathisers would someday upset the status quo and if the "Numbers" gained strength and became strong, it would make Britannia weak and given Britannia's rhetoric, it would mean that Britannia would have in effect, forfeited its right to exist if it ever became weak and that was something Villetta would not stand for under any circumstances. If the strong were to remain strong, then the weak had to remain weak. That was the underlying message of Britannia's rhetoric; Oppression and subjugation were what justified a person's right to survive and for them to remain strong enough to survival, the oppressed and subjugated had to remain weak.

"I'll find those sympathetic vermin," she vowed to herself as her face adorned a rather dark expression, "I'll find this Rei and her little friend and bring them both to justice and show them just how Britannia deals with such disgusting vermin that dare take advantage of the privileges they're entitled to."

* * *

Meanwhile, Euphemia and Suzaku, who was now wearing a pair of black sunglasses were walking up a flight of stairs leading to a pedestrianized area of the settlement that was decorated with plants and trees off to the sides in huge stone square pots, totally ignoring the chatter of the people around them as they passed them by. However, the pair walked in silence as Suzaku, looking his old friend over, noticed that her hair was considerably shorter as he remembered it being at waist-length and now it stopped just above her shoulders.

"Come on Suzaku," Euphemia said frustratingly; clearly unable to bear the silence between any longer, "Say something. I'd prefer it if you started talking first."

"Oh," Suzaku said in surprise as he stopped for a second, but almost immediately started walking again, "I'm sorry Euphie, but I can't help but feel a bit awkward right. After all, I never expected you to be outside the Government Bureau waiting for me. I was waiting for some people to pick me up, but you turned up and well…"

Euphemia just chuckled as she turned to look at him with a rather innocent and carefree look on her face.

"And I suppose I ruined your plans," she said in a tone of sarcastic mock hurt.

"It's okay, I don't mind all that much… really," Suzaku quickly replied in a hurried apologetic tone, causing Euphemia to let out a giggle, reminding him of the girl that had been sent to his family's shrine before the war with Britannia broke out.

He then glanced back at her hair and gave her a curious look.

"I see you got a haircut," he commented simply in a questioning tone, "Last time I saw you back in Shinjuku, your hair was down to your waist."

"Oh that, some guy accidentally set my hair on fire with a blowtorch," the pinkette lied in a dismissive tone that sounded so genuine, Suzaku clearly bought it as his eyes widened in surprise. "It had nothing to do with Shinjuku though. I was passing someone who was doing work with a blowtorch and he turned away from what he was doing to talk to his friend and accidentally moved the blowtorch that caught my hair. We managed to put the fire out and no serious harm was done. The man was even generous enough to pay for my haircut."

Inwardly, she cursed herself for lying to Suzaku. It did not feel right lying to him and she knew it. He was her oldest and perhaps dearest friend save Nunnally and lying to him felt like an act of betrayal; like she was betraying his trust in her. Unfortunately, she had to lie to him because telling him the truth would mean revealing that she was Rei and knowing that he would no doubt turn her in if he knew, she had opted for that lie. Suzaku was a kind and caring person with a big heart. She knew that much. He was a male version of the old her and that was why she understood him and his reasons for doing what he was doing. He was not one that acted out of spite and there was not an ounce of malice within his body. He only fought to protect others and she knew that he would turn her in; not out of hatred for Rei, but because he believed that it was the right thing to do as he disagreed with her methods and believed them to be wrong.

"Idiotic fool," she thought bitterly as she shook her head, resisting the urge to lash out at him for his naïve behaviour.

There was nothing wrong with wanting to change things through peaceful and non-violent means. Euphemia herself wanted to do the exact same thing. However, she was smart enough to realise that trying to change things from within was a path that was doomed to failure. Unfortunately, Suzaku could not see that... or perhaps he was in denial and did not want to see it. She still wanted him to join her in her quest and wanted him to realise his mistake through her guidance as she knew that learning the truth through violence would no doubt cause Suzaku to suffer a nervous breakdown and could potentially turn him into a merciless indiscriminate killer and that was something she did not want. She knew that she could potentially lose sight of her goal of liberating her second home and it would become more about vengeance and could very well end up the same way and she wanted someone to help keep her on her chosen path and take action if need be should she ever stray from it.

In any case, Suzaku just nodded and Euphemia knew that he bought her story as he removed his sunglasses from his eyes for a moment and used his free hand to brush underneath his eye before placing his sunglasses back over his eyes and then quickly walked in front of Euphemia and blocked her path and gave her a serious look.

"By the way, I just realised," he said in a stern, scolding tone, "Shouldn't you be in school? You're only sixteen and all under-eighteens should be in school."

However, Euphemia had not been listening as she noticed a grey cat that appeared to be limping and she had already gone off to see it just as Suzaku finished, which rather surprised Suzaku.

"Meow," Euphemia said as she bent down and got on her knees as she leaned towards the cat, "Meow, meow, awe, does the kitty's paw hurt?"

The cat responded by hissing at her before almost immediately calming down as if realising that Euphemia was not a threat.

"Meow, meow, meow," the exiled princess went on as if she believed she was talking to the cat as she extended her hand out in front of it face.

The cat, which had a black patch over its right eye looked up at Euphemia in surprise for a moment, letting out a confused meow and then moved towards her, closing its eyes as Euphemia stroked its head and tickled its chin in a gentle manner.

"Meow, meow," Euphemia went on as the cat became really comfortable with her.

Suzaku walked over to Euphemia as he raised his sunglasses to the top of his forehead and could not help but chuckle at the scene as the cat let Euphemia pick it up. Euphemia was just as he remembered her seven years ago. She always seemed to have a way with animals and seemed to understand them. He remembered that birds had felt comfortable enough landing on her index finger and shoulders and let her stroke them as she fed them. She had also been able to calm down an angry Doberman that had borne its teeth at him and looked ready to take a good chunk of his face out, but Euphemia had stepped in and managed to calm it down without getting hurt and that rather stunned him. How on Earth she managed to do it without being attacked herself was nothing short of a miracle.

Euphemia then stood up with the cat in her arms and flashed him a rather innocent smile as she turned to face him and held out the cat to him and Suzaku only smiled as he reached out his hand in an attempt to mimic Euphemia in stroking its head and tickling its chin.

The cat let out a meow as it looked at Suzaku, feeling a wave of dislike of the boy in front of it. As Suzaku's hand got closer, the cat inched its head forward and opened its mouth and then slammed it down hard on Suzaku's index finger. It did not feel threatened or anything; it just did not like Suzaku for some reason.

"Oh my," Euphemia said as Suzaku winced in pain, though he did not look all that surprised by the cat's reaction.

* * *

Meanwhile, Lloyd and Cecile were currently inside the SRDT as it stopped at a traffic light on a nearby road.

"We're running late, I hope he's still waiting for us," Lloyd complained, clearly not too pleased as he was behind schedule.

In truth, he was really ecstatic about Suzaku's acquittal as he knew the Lancelot had its pilot back and even more than that, the Purists were finished, leaving him able to choose whomever he wanted to test his inventions without their annoying protests if he happened to choose a non-Britannian. However, it had taken a while loading the Lancelot onto the back and because of it, they were running behind schedule and Lloyd wanted Suzaku back as soon as possible so he could continue with the experiments on the Lancelot.

* * *

"Considering the charge, did they really realise him?" Cecile asked inside the cab sitting next to Lloyd as she feared that they may have decided to just execute Suzaku anyway despite Rei's confession and the evidence she had presented to confirm that she had been telling the truth.

"Yes, they had no evidence," Lloyd said dismissively as he turned to face her and then turned back to contrite on the road in front of the vehicle, though his head turned to the other side, "I'm sure they put him through the third degree because of that Rei incident."

His expression then became one of surprise as he noticed Suzaku walking with a girl dressed in a trenchcoat, cap and glasses.

"What why is he…?" he said in surprise before his face twisted into an expression of slight annoyance, "He ditched us for a chance to improve his luck with the ladies…? Why of all the… I don't believe this."

Cecile just chuckled with a smile on her face as she turned to look at her superior.

* * *

Meanwhile, Suzaku and Euphemia were sitting on a step with the cat sitting on higher ground and Euphemia had just finished tied a bandage round its injured paw. Suzaku's bag was sitting to his right and he was sitting on top of his own coattails and Euphemia's trenchcoat as she had taken it off and spread it out because of the heat.

"I see you still have trouble with cats," the pinkette said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I still do," Suzaku, who now had his sunglasses over his eyes again said as he reached out to pet the cat and its responded by hissing threateningly at him, "I like cats just fine, but unfortunately the feeling's not mutual."

That much was true. Cats did not like Suzaku all that much. He did not know what it was, but there was something about him that cats seemed to find rather off-putting and offensive. He was not allergic to them or anything. In fact, he could get really close to them and not feel the symptoms of an allergic to cat hair. However, the cats seemed to despise him and regard him as the devil. It was kind of sad really. He enjoyed cats, but they did not like him all that much and it had been true going back to seven years ago. He remembered one incident where he tried to pet his cousin, Kaguya's cat and it tried to tear his face off and was only saved when Euphemia and Kaguya both came to calm it down. It was definitely something that only the cats themselves could sense as other animals had no problems being near him. However, he still liked cats despite the anti-cat aura that seemed to be around him.

"I think unrequited love is the mark of a kind person," Euphemia said as she closed her eyes and faced out on front of her.

The cat suddenly leapt down the step to the ground and bounded off into the settlement, catching them both by surprise.

"Uh, the kitty ran away," Euphemia said, feeling a tad disappointed, though she wasn't all that upset.

After all, she had a rebellion to prepare for and could not afford to get side-tracked, though she had to admit that it felt great letting go of her troubles for the time being as it had proven that she still had elements of her old self within her and those were moments she would cherish for the rest of her life as she knew she could possibly lose herself to her hatred for her father and her desire for revenge. It was nice to know that she had not fallen into insanity and could still be happy round animals. It also brought back memories of happier times; times that she remembered quite well and would also cherish. It was nice to know that not everything in the world was as evil and corrupt as her father.

"Euphie," Suzaku said, looking off to his right, though his tone was one of seriousness, "As I was saying before, shouldn't you be in school?"

"Don't worry about that," Euphemia said in a dismissive tone, "Someone's standing in for me back at Ashford and I must say, she's a great impersonator. Do you bring that up because you're concerned about me?"

"Huh?" Suzaku said, looking confused for a moment before he regained his composure, "Of course I am. You and Nunnally are my friends. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to either of you."

"Good, then you can accompany me round the settlement some more and I'll tell you about where Nunnally and I have been these past seven years," Euphemia said as she stood up and grabbed Suzaku, pulling him to his feet with his bag and her trenchcoat in his right hand as she dragged him along with her.

"Well… uh… alright then," he said in a confused tone before deciding to give in.

* * *

Unbeknownst to either of them, the girl was crouched behind a stone pot that held a tree and had been listening in on their conversation. Peering out and seeing them both moving on, she waiting till they were a good distance away before she stood up and started to follow them.

"I'm sure of it now," she said to herself aloud, "That girl… it's Euphemia alright."

That much she had deduced from their conversation, plus she also recognised the girl's voice as female voices did not deepen as much as male voices as they got older and pretty much sounded the same as they did when they were younger, albeit a tad deeper. Also, hearing the name, Nunnally also confirmed her suspicions as she knew there was only one person called Nunnally who could possibly socialise with someone who used the nickname, Euphie.

"Well, well sister," she thought to herself with a groan of frustration as she clearly hated both Euphemia and Nunnally with a passion, "You survived after all, and no doubt you're in hiding from our father. I should reveal this to Cornelia when she arrives, but I won't. I'm liking being rid of you both and I'll never give that up for anything, so be glad that I'm benefitting from your little ruse, otherwise I'd gladly turn you both in… even if just to ruin your lives."

That much was true. As much as she wanted to make both Euphemia and Nunnally's lives miserable, she did not want them back in Pendragon. She was happy without them and knew that if they returned, Euphemia would do her best to make sure she ended up regretting it. Nunnally would not be all that bothered as she never did return her feelings of hatred, but Euphemia would and weighing up the pros and cons, she found that the cons by far outweighed the pros as she knew how scary Euphemia could be when she was angry despite her pacifistic nature.

* * *

Euphemia and Suzaku stood outside a store window looking at the mannequin with a long brown wig and wearing a blue dress and holding a handbag with its arm crossing its stomach and its elbow of its other arm resting on the first arm and the hand was in front of the mouth. Euphemia, who had her hands clasped in front of her, unclasped her hands and mimicked the mannequin's pose and turned off to her left away from Suzaku. Suzaku just looked on and laughed, causing Euphemia to turn and glare at him with her hands on her hips like a wife scolding her husband for doing something stupid.

* * *

They then walked down the street.

"So Euphie, just where have you and Nunnally been living all this time?" Suzaku asked her curiously as he gave her a curious look.

"Nunnally and I live on campus at Ashford Academy in the Student Council's clubhouse, though it's more like a mansion than a clubhouse," Euphemia replied simply, "The principal of the school lets us stay there as a favour. You see, after the death of Lady Marianne, the Ashford Family, who had been of nobility had fallen into disgrace and fled to Japan and started up Ashford Academy. Since Nunnally was Lady Marianne's daughter, I contacted them after the war ended and they helped shelter us from that man. However, in Nunnally's current condition, it'd be hard on her to move to and from the dorms, so Ruby-boy lets us stay in the clubhouse."

"I see," Suzaku said with a nod, though he could not help but flinch at the amount of venomous hatred laced in her voice as she had uttered the words, "that man" and decided to change the subject, "So what happened after I was shot? I heard that you and that girl weren't among the list of casualties."

Euphemia grimaced as she knew that Suzaku was going to ask her this eventually and despite having rehearsed what she was going to say, she still felt a bit uneasy as it had led her to start her campaign against Britannia and kill her mother; something that she still had not completely come to terms with. In fact, she still had not come to terms with the deaths she had caused as she knew that for all their faults, they were still people; many of whom she figured had families they had been supporting, but unfortunately in the heat of battle. You could not think of that. It was kill or be killed. If you did not kill your enemy, they would kill you. That was the reality of it. As much as she dreaded robbing families of their loved ones, she knew that it was necessary and that there would be more deaths along the way and more families that would lose their loved ones, but it was something that was totally unavoidable; just as it was unavoidable that innocent civilians would undoubtedly get caught in the crossfire.

"The driver of the truck was still in the cab and he blew himself up and I used the chaos to escape with the girl and now she's held up back at the clubhouse," Euphemia replied, though it was not a total lie.

She had used the resulting chaos of the explosion to make off with C.C. and C.C. was held up at Ashford. In effect, she had not lied at all; just withheld information as she left out the parts how she had had been caught, given the power of Geass and helped the terrorists turn the tide and murdered her mother. She had considered telling Suzaku a lie, but decided against it for fear that if he somehow saw them together sometime in the future, it would have put her in an awkward situation. He would probably suspect that she was hiding something and then start snooping around where she did not want him to and it could unravel her plans. So she decided that being truthful would suffice.

"You're hiding her from the military, aren't you?" Suzaku said, sounding a bit troubled and from the look on his face, Euphemia could tell that he was worried as she was currently looking at him.

"Uh huh, but I'm trusting you won't blab to them, will you?" she said, giving him a seriously hard stare and Suzaku knew that it was not a question at all, but a command.

"O-o-of c-c-course I won't," Suzaku spluttered in surprised, feeling a bit startled at the pinkette's expression, "But you could be putting yourself and Nunnally at risk. Supposing they get a lead on where she is and come searching for her? I know you and Nunnally don't want to go back to the homeland, but they may very well recognise you."

"I'm all too aware of that," Euphemia said with a sigh as she shook her head in frustration, "But C.C. unfortunately knows my true identity and hinted that she may blab if I force her to leave."

"Plus I want information from her concerning the Emperor and his role in the Ragnarok Connection," she added in her thoughts.

"C.C.?" Suzaku said in confusion as he gave his friend a questioning look.

"That's the name she likes to be addressed by," Euphemia sighed and then groaned in frustration, "She doesn't want to divulge her real name and I have to say that she's a major pain in the ass who somehow manages to annoy me without even trying."

"Oh my," Suzaku said with a stunned look on his face as he noticed the frustration and anger in the pinkette's tone.

"She even convinced Nunnally that I was a lesbian and that we were seeing each other," Euphemia went on, having gotten into a rant, "And she likes to sleep in the nude and in my bed."

Suzaku's eyes widened in shock at that last part as he was unsure what to make of it.

"A lesbian?" he said simply, unable to think of anything else to say.

"Uh huh, though I think I managed to set Nunnally straight when I told her that the "future together" was a business contract," Euphemia sad, breathing heavily, though she had calmed down from her rant and decided to change the subject, "Anyway, enough about that, let's just go and have fun."

Suzaku just nodded and decided not to answer as he knew that Euphemia wanted to drop it and they both continued walking together.

* * *

Later, they had stopped off at a café and purchased some sandwiches wrapped in green napkins while they both talked about unrelated topics and got many stares from passers-by as Suzaku was an "Eleven" and Euphemia herself was Britannian. To many, it was like they were out on a date and not many Britannians approved of mixed relationships, but they did not bother them and just ignored them, though a few had been whispering as they recognised Suzaku from TV as being the suspect in Rochelle's murder.

* * *

Later, as they both continued to go around the settlement, they both failed to notice the SRDT pull up and stop behind them and Lloyd and Cecile observed them with Cecile leaning forwards to get a better view as Lloyd was in the way. After calming down, Lloyd had decided to just let Suzaku be for the time being and observe and like many others, he too was convinced that Euphemia was his girlfriend, though unlike the others, he did not see the harm in an "Eleven" being involved with a Britannian.

* * *

Later then both had stopped to rest next to a flight of stone stairs leading up to some important building, though in a window opposite from where they were standing, a TV displayed a newsman with a picture of Rei and C.C.'s capsule behind her behind him as he recounted the previous night's events.

Euphemia shivered as she noticed Suzaku's eyebrows twitch as he glared at the image of Rei. She knew that was her he was glaring at and even though he did not know that she was Rei, it still made her nervous as she remembered their meeting the previous night and how he had refused to join her and threatened to turn her in and Euphemia knew that if he had been bolder, he would have done so as despite what he had said about how she would have killed him if he tried; she knew that Suzaku would have won in any fight they both engaged in as she did not work out and Suzaku had been training in martial arts, kendo and who knew what else while enlisting in the military. Suzaku was indeed stronger than her and she knew that unless she came up with some kind of plan, he would defeat her and bring her in if they ever met in the battlefield, that is, assuming she survived the encounter.

* * *

Later after Euphemia recovered from her momentary shock, they both walked down a street beside a build with a long billboard of a rather peaceful scene depicting grassy hills meeting the sea and seagulls flying in the air.

"Suzaku, would you mind talking me to one more place please?" Euphemia asked curiously.

"Your wish is my command milady," Suzaku said as he walked out in front of Euphemia and turned face her, dropping his back and giving a bow with his arm crossed over his abdomen.

"Take me to Shinjuku," Euphemia said simply, causing Suzaku's eyes to widen in shock as he looked up and saw the serious look on her face, "Suzaku Kururugi, please escort me back there. I'd like to see what happened for myself and don't ever get formal with me again."

Suzaku winced at that last part as he knew how Euphemia hated all the formalities of nobility despite being a princess herself. He remembered seven years ago how his animosity towards the two princesses that his father had agreed to take in vanished when he first met them both. Neither Euphemia nor Nunnally were the snobs he envisioned them as and he remembered how Euphemia had confided in him how she hated being a princess as people tended to give her unearned praise and hero-worship and how she how to behave a certain way while in the company of others; even those she did not like and could not stand. All she wanted was to be herself around others and that was that. She wanted to be seen as a person and not some divine entity that deserved all that luxury just because she was alive.

"Someone may discover my secret," Euphemia said in conclusion, causing Suzaku's eyes to widen in shock.

"I'm…" he started to say in a panicked tone.

"Forget about it," Euphemia said as her bright smile returned, "Let's just go to Shinjuku."

* * *

Meanwhile at Ashford Academy, Sayoko Shinozaki, who was currently disguised as Euphemia was sitting on a bench in the courtyard with a laptop on her lap as she searched the net for information on Suzaku Kururugi, carrying on from where Euphemia had left off before she had gone to find Suzaku. She was currently typing text into the laptop's word processor and had brought up an article about Suzaku that she was copying from. The article even had a picture of Suzaku from the live coverage of his arrest before his court martial and showed him residing himself to his fate. Sayoko was planning on transferring the text to Euphemia's computer in her bedroom so Euphemia could look over it. It was what Euphemia had instructed before she left.

"Euphemia," a girl's voice said as Sayoko scrolled down the article, causing her to look down at a pair of black shoes and light bluish grey socks, "Do you have a minute?"

"Huh?" Sayoko said, momentarily surprised, but almost immediately remembered that she was posing as Euphemia as she looked up and saw a sick-looking girl with dark blue eyes and straight reddish brown shoulder-length hair staring at her.

The girl also wore the standard Ashford Academy girl's uniform aside from the light bluish grey socks that ran almost the entire length of her legs as opposed to the usual dark greenish blue socks. Sayoko immediately recognised this girl as Kallen Stadtfeld or Kallen Kouzuki as she preferred to be called while in the company of her friends. This was the girl who was secretly a resistance fighter and was only at Ashford due to the fact that she was part Britannian and Sayoko knew that this girl had threatened her mistress; something she was not sure she was ready to forgive, but for the time being, she got into her role as Euphemia to see what she wanted.

"Yeah, what is it?" she asked in a curious voice that sounded so like the real Euphemia's that it was almost impossible to tell that she was not Euphemia.

"About that phone call the other day," Kallen replied in a frail weak voice that the disguised maid knew was fake.

"Phone call?" she asked, a bit confused as she brought the laptop's screen down onto the keyboard, closing it over, but then remembered Euphemia explaining how she managed to get Kallen off her back when she suspected that she may know her true identity.

"Yeah…" Kallen said as she glanced off a bit to her right while looking downwards, obviously embarrassed, "You know… when you and I were in the bathroom?"

"Uh huh," Sayoko said with a nod, deciding to play along.

"Can you find out what the caller ID was?" Kallen asked, still a bit embarrassed, especially since Shirley had shown up and had completely misunderstood the situation completely, causing her to faint from shock, "I want to contact that person again."

"It was a school phone," Sayoko said simply in a dismissive manner, "So I'm sure if…"

She suddenly stopped in mid-sentence as her eyes widened in shock as she saw C.C. dressed in one of Euphemia's many identical casual outfits next to a tree and twirling on one foot with her arms spread, dancing like a ballerina.

"I see," Kallen said as she turned to face her right, unaware of the green-haired girl who now had her back to them and had her right hand on top of her head, "Makes sense, I should've known."

"That girl," Sayoko said in her real voice as her fists tightened and she glared at C.C. as she turned to face them.

"Eh, what?" Kallen said as she noticed "Euphemia" glaring; not directly at her, but something that she knew must be behind her and she started to turn to see what it was, "Is there something… oh…?"

Sayoko immediately grabbed Kallen by her cheeks with her thumbs and index fingers clamped down on them and forced the unsuspecting girl to turn back and face her.

* * *

Unfortunately at that moment, Shirley just happened to be walking along a corridor and had noticed them from a window overlooking the courtyard that was behind "Euphemia" and from the looks of it, "Euphemia" and Kallen's faces were so close to one another, one could mistakenly come to the conclusion that they were kissing and unfortunately, that's exactly what Shirley thought, given her obsession and how it brought out all those insecurities and seeing as Shirley was not aware that Euphemia was out in the settlement and that Sayoko had taken her place, she believed that Sayoko was really Euphemia and seeing them in that position, she immediately darted to the side of the window with her back to the wall and her hands covering her mouth.

"No way!" she said quietly to herself in disbelief as she remembered all the previous encounters she had seen between Euphemia and Kallen; including that time when she walked into the bathroom to see Kallen standing in the shower with the shower curtain drawn back and Euphemia, whom she believed to have had been staring at her.

Of course, she had convinced herself that that had just been a horrible nightmare as she remembered waking up and finding herself sitting on a chair in the student council clubhouse, but now that she was seeing this… she could not help but wonder if it really had been a dream or if it had been real and it only served to make her insecurities even worse.

"Oh Euphie…" she thought to herself, "Please don't tell me that…"

She then shook her head as she tried to convince herself that it was just a misunderstanding, though she was doing a poor job of trying to convince herself. Even though she would not admit it; even to herself, she did have a crush on Euphemia and wanted to be with her, but unfortunately, she was too afraid to tell her since Euphemia was herself a girl and those sorts of relationships were not considered normal. So she tried to convince herself that she her obsession was nothing more than normal worry that one would naturally have for a friend. However, she did not like it when she saw Euphemia with other people regardless of the other person's gender and she feared two things; one was that Euphemia did not swing that way and if she did tell her, Euphemia would reject her and not want to have anything to do with her ever again and the second thing was that Euphemia did swing that way and she was seeing someone else and seeing the situation outside, she was now more convinced that it was the latter; not that she would admit it of course. After all, the fear of rejection, not to mention what other people would think had led her believe that she only saw Euphemia like a sister and was just being really protective of her.

* * *

Back outside, Sayoko watched as C.C. gave her a slight wave and then walked off.

"Excuse me," Kallen's voice came, sounding not at all too happy and a tad threatening as Sayoko was reminded that she still had her cheeks in her grasp and her face right up at hers, "What are you doing?"

From the sounds of it, Kallen was saying, "Let me go or else" and despite her voice being muffled by Sayoko's hold, Sayoko clearly got the message.

"Uh, what indeed?" she replied, still using her real voice, causing Kallen's eyes to widen in shock, "I do apologise for this Miss Stadtfeld."

She then released Kallen and quickly chased after C.C. before Kallen could enquire what was going on.

Needless to say, Kallen was indeed surprised at hearing the change in Euphemia's voice. It did not take long for her to deduce that the person she had been talking to was not Euphemia as the person sounded a lot older and wiser, but if it was not Euphemia, then who was it and just why were they impersonating Euphemia? Shaking her head, she decided not to worry about that for the time being as it was none of her business, but what did strike her curiosity was the fact that this Euphemia impostor had seemingly tried to kiss her, though Kallen was no fool. She knew that the impostor had seen something behind her as she had noticed that the impostor had not been glancing directly at her, but behind her and had acted to stop her from seeing whatever it was that had gotten her attention.

"Guess I'm not the only one here with a secret," she said to herself with a shrug.

* * *

Meanwhile, a Britannian transport plane had just taken off and was leaving the Tokyo Settlement across the Pacific Ocean bound for the Britannian homeland.

* * *

Inside, Bartley Asprius stood in a prisoner's restraining suit and a shock collar with his arms bound behind his back and poles protruding out of the wall on either side running underneath his armpits and then moved upwards vertically to the near-top of his head and then ran back into the wall as a slight diagonal angle to ensure that he did not escape. It was how they transported prisoners. Two soldiers sat to his right with their rifles in their laps; obviously guards in case he somehow managed to free himself.

However, Bartley had no intentions of trying to escape. True to his word, Jeremiah had not killed him, but instead had him incarcerated and now he was on his way back to the homeland to stand trial for desertion as it had been because he and his men had abandoned their posts that Rochelle had been murdered and Prince Clovis was injured. However, that was not why Bartley was worried. In truth, he knew how little the Emperor cared for his children and wives and he knew that the Emperor would not shed tears over this loss. What worried Bartley was that he knew the Emperor would definitely discover the secret experiments they had been performing without his knowledge and he knew once that happened, he was doomed as the Emperor was not a man anyone wanted to anger.

"To think I'd return to the homeland like this," he thought, already having resided himself to his fate as he knew that it was pointless to argue with the Emperor, "I wish I never let that sadistic bitch talk me into involving that damn girl."

That much was true. Rochelle had talked him into carrying out the experiments. Code-R was Rochelle's project that she had talked him into carrying out and she also tricked Prince Clovis into providing the necessary funding for it. Unfortunately, Rochelle was dead and Prince Clovis, though his career as Viceroy was over was scheduled to remain in "Area Eleven" for some reason; probably to become Princess Cornelia's personal punching bag he figured, so that left Bartley to shoulder the blame for Code-R and it was not something he was looking forward to. Oh well, at least the team he managed to shift to Narita would be okay and with the funding in his secret account, they would do just fine.

* * *

Meanwhile back at Ashford Academy, Sayoko, who had managed to catch up with C.C. had dragged her to a balcony to speak with her without any of the other students eavesdropping on them as Sayoko knew that C.C.'s presence would cause an awful lot of gossip and that gossip may end up attracting unwanted attention from the military if it got out with the school boundaries.

"Are you insane?" Sayoko said with a growl, "You can't go walking ago. What if someone sees you?"

"Don't act strict with me," C.C. said in her usual dismissive neutral tone as she walked over to the edge of the balcony, "I never leave the school grounds, so it's fine."

"It's not," Sayoko said, shooting the immortal a stern look, "You can't do as you like here. You don't belong."

"I don't belong anywhere," C.C. said in agreement as she leaned her arms on the stone barrier that surrounded the edges of the balcony to prevent people from walking off, though Sayoko thought that she detected a hint of sadness in her voice, but immediately dismissed it.

From what Euphemia had said, this woman hardly ever showed emotions and had a bad habit of killing her good moods with her logic and enjoyed getting rises out of her, which was why Sayoko believed she had convinced Nunnally that she was Euphemia's girlfriend. So she could not be sad, could she? Then again, immortal or not, she was still just a human being and even if being alive for so long had resulted in her learning to suppress her emotions, there may be times in which her emotions could overwhelm her and resurface, but that was not the issue here.

"Hmm?" C.C. said upon noticing a girl down below facing the wall opposite the balcony and was doing something to it, "What's with her?"

"Oh her, must be one of Euphemia-sama's experiments," Sayoko said as she walked over to C.C.

"Experiments?" C.C. asked with genuine curiosity.

* * *

Down below, the blue-haired girl had marked the walk with a cross, using a maths compass. The wall had several marked crosses on it, but the girl did not appear to care as she just laughed once she was done and brought the compass close to her chest and turned and walked away. Her eyes had the familiar reddish orange glow round the irises, indicating that she was carrying out a command under the influence of Euphemia's Geass.

* * *

"Must be that girl that Euphemia-sama told to mark the wall," Sayoko went on from where she up in the balcony as she watched the girl leave, "After that blunder with Miss Stadtfeld, Euphemia-sama used her Geass on that girl to make her do that."

"I see Euphemia's told you everything," C.C. said, shaking her head and from the sound of it, she did not sound all that pleased to realise this.

"You don't seem too happy that I know about it," Sayoko pointed out with a hint of suspicion in her voice, "Geass is the name of the power you gave Euphemia-sama. She told me she heard it when you first made that contract with her."

C.C. tensed upon noticing the suspicion in Sayoko's tone, something that Sayoko noticed, but then she calmed down and regained her composure and let out a dismissive scoff.

"So I gather she's testing to see how long it lasts," she said simply.

"Well, one must know the specs of their weapon, don't they… you know, drawbacks and limitations?" Sayoko said, deciding that it was best not to push this woman into a corner at the moment, "After that blunder with Miss Stadtfeld, Euphemia-sama realised that she needed to figure the full details of her power, so behave or I might talk her into trying it out on you."

"Do you think it'll work on me?" C.C. countered with a wave of her hand.

"Since you gave her that power, I'm guessing that you're immune," Sayoko said with a dissatisfied growl, "Gee, I think I understand why Euphemia-sama finds you so darn irritating."

"Oh relax," C.C. said as she leaned back with her hands gripping the edge of the stone barrier as she turned her head to face Sayoko, "Euphemia and I are in this together; like it or not. I won't do anything to endanger the unique partnership we have. So you won't have to worry about me getting her killed. I need her alive to fulfil her end of our contract."

"I'll hold you to that," Sayoko said with a stern look in her eyes, "But since you haven't told Euphemia-sama what her obligation to you is, she doesn't trust you and neither do I. You only want her alive to fulfil her obligation to you. However, if either she or Nunnally-sama end up dead because of you, I don't care if you are immortal. I will hunt you down wherever you flee to and I will find a way to kill you, come Hell or high water, I will do so cause I get the feeling that you're not as immortal as you believe you are."

She then turned and walked away leaving C.C. with a shocked and slightly fearful look on her face as she knew from the sound of Sayoko's voice and the sternness in her eyes, it was not empty threat.

"Even if you did find a way, you'd only be doing me a favour," she whispered as she stared in the direction Sayoko had walked off in, "That is my wish, but unfortunately in order to die, I must pass the curse of immortality to someone else."

Sayoko was not a factor either she or her conspirators had considered and given Sayoko's involvement on top of Euphemia's unpredictability, it only complicated things more. Of course, she considered killing Sayoko, but quickly dismissed it as she knew that Euphemia would undoubtedly link her maid's sudden death with her and she knew Euphemia would not be furious if Sayoko died; furious enough to cancel their contract; not that it was physically possible, but Euphemia would dismiss her and would not want to have anything to do with her and with that in mind, she decided that it was just too risky.

Unfortunately, Sayoko had brought up memories she had long battled to suppress. It was true, she wanted to die and nothing short of complete vaporisation would finish her for good so long as she possessed the Code. She was a girl who had long since outlived her time and it brought her nothing but loneliness and misery and ironically, before she had become immortal, she had entered a contract with her predecessor in order to escape loneliness and for a while, it worked, but unfortunately as time went on and she lost the ability to control her Geass, she realised that the happiness she thought she had had not been true happiness at all and in the end, her loneliness was even worse than before and in desperation, she had sought her predecessor, a nun, only to learn that the nun never really cared about her at all like she had believed she did. The nun had only saw her as a means of escape of the curse that was immortality and after forcibly giving her the Code, she had proceeded to kill herself.

Since then, C.C. had nothing but loneliness and misery. Sure, she made friends, but unfortunately, they all grew old and died, leaving her alone once again and some who knew of her immortality had persecuted her as a witch and burned her at the stake. She had been killed lots of different ways, but in the end, she would involuntarily revive herself and after so long, she vowed never to get close to anyone in an attempt to stop herself from feeling the pain of bereavements. She had learned to cast off her emotions. However, it did not help ease her loneliness. She longed for death and she had entered many contracts over the centuries, but unfortunately, all those she had made contracts with in the past either died before they could inherit her Code or they lost control of their Geass and ended up being driven to insanity, much to her sorrow.

Now she had a new contract, but unlike her predecessors, Euphemia was smart. Those she had made contracts with in the past had believed that she had cared for them and had their best interests at heart, which was why they believed she had given them Geass, but that was not the case. C.C. hardly cared for them, if at all and only saw them as a means to an end; the end of her life. However, Euphemia was different. She may not know the truth, but she knew that C.C. did not have her interests at heart… or at least, C.C. told herself that and in the beginning, that was true. Euphemia was the key to her and her conspirators' plan as well as the means to end her immortality. Unfortunately, Euphemia proved too unpredictable and C.C. knew that Euphemia only kept her around because she wanted to know about the Ragnarok Connection. In other words, Euphemia saw her as a means of getting information and for some reason, it upset her. Sure Euphemia was asking about things she was not ready to know just yet and that there was a danger that it could jeopardise the entire plan and as much as C.C. tried to convince herself otherwise, she knew that was not why she was upset.

In truth, Euphemia's distrust had had somewhat of an effect on C.C.. No matter how hard she tried to deny it, there was no escaping the fact that C.C. was now starting to realise just how much like the nun who had given her the Code she had become.

"My, how history repeats itself," she mused with a sigh, "Must be this Code."

That was true. She had only been ten when she received Geass; an orphaned slave girl born in what was today known as the EU on the French/Italian border by the Mediterranean Coast during medieval times. In the six years she had Geass, she and the nun had been happy together and C.C. believed that her loneliness was over. However, when she lost control of her Geass and it evolved to the point where the insignia was visible in both her eyes, the nun then showed her true colours and afterwards, C.C. was left feeling heartbroken and betrayed. The one person she believed truly cared for her had used her and never cared for her at all. Once her usefulness was at an end, she had abandoned her by forcing her to inherit the Code and then killing herself, leaving C.C. alone and the people outside, once being free from her Geass had accused her of witchcraft and tried to kill her.

Like the nun, she was using Euphemia in pretty much the same way the nun had used her, only unlike her, Euphemia was smart enough to realise that something was amiss and it upset her. She did not know why it upset her. After all, what did she care if Euphemia trusted her or not. She did not know what her obligation was. She could still give Euphemia her Code and that would be that. However, thinking it over, it became harder and harder to tell herself that. Remembering Euphemia; how she was at times infuriating and at the same time fun to tease, she found herself questioning, not only her commitment to the plan, but her commitment to giving Euphemia her Code because one thing was for sure, if Euphemia ended up receiving her curse, she knew that she would not be happy. It was not fair to Euphemia and as much as she tried to convince herself that it did not matter, she knew deep down that it did.

"I don't want to be alone anymore," she said as a single tear seeped out her left eye and rolled down her cheek, "I don't want to be alone anymore."

That was when it hit her. She did not want to be alone anymore and now that she thought about it, she did not want to solve her problem by dying either. Sure, she still wanted to die; that much was still true. However, she did not want to give her Code away either as it meant someone else, whether it was Euphemia or someone else would inherit her curse. She did not want to die at the expense of someone else and most of all, she did not want to die alone. All she wanted was companionship, the one thing she had long since denied herself.

* * *

**Author's Notes **– At last, another chapter done. I really don't know what's wrong with me to be honest. I want to update regularly, but if it's not writer's block, computer problems or whatever else, it's a lack of motivation. I know what I want to write, but actually sitting down and typing it up can be a bit of a drag. Maybe that's why last chapter wasn't up to the standards of the previous chapters. I'm still a bit nervous about the new computer I got recently as the problems with the old one eventually caused it to crash permanently as I couldn't figure out what the hell was wrong with it. Anyway, as I said before, Euphemia would temporarily fulfil her cannon role with Sayoko at Ashford filling in for the parts where Lelouch was seen at Ashford in the anime while Suzaku and Euphemia were in Shinjuku. As I mentioned last chapter, someone else will be sub-viceroy instead of Euphemia and I even have what I hope to be a believable reason for their presence. If you can guess the girl stalking Euphemia and Suzaku is the new sub-viceroy and I'm challenging you to guess who it is as I've dropped hints and it's not an OC. Hopefully their identity will be revealed next chapter and if not, definitely the chapter after that. On a side note, this is the longest chapter I've done so far.


	18. Return to Shinjuku

**Code Geass – Euphemia of the Revelation**

**Return to Shinjuku**

**Disclaimer **– Code Geass is the property of Sunrise, Bandai Entertainment and Ichiro Okouchi, so I don't own anything afflicted with Code Geass.

* * *

**Warnings **– Strong language, strong violence, Euphemia OOC (obviously), yuri, possible lemons in later chapters (unsure)

* * *

It had been about a week since the massacre in the Shinjuku Ghetto and many buildings still bore the scars of that horrible day. It was late in the evening as the sun had already started to set when Euphemia and Suzaku had arrived and in truth, the atmosphere was quite depressing to say the least. No one had bothered to clear up the mess that the military had left behind aside from removing the dead bodies, but then again, even before the massacre, buildings lying in ruins and disrepair were nothing new. Flowers and candles were laid at various points and several walls had paper with pictures of people and writing, which Suzaku and Euphemia presumed were of the dead taped on them. It was not hard for them to guess that they were memorials to the dead. However, so far, the ghetto was deserted as they had not met a single soul since their arrival.

"The Shinjuku Ghetto, ruined again," Suzaku said with a sigh, "The residents were starting to return too."

However, Euphemia was not paying attention as she was currently surveying the surrounding area. She noticed in one part a cloth with three cookies lying on top of it and a small cup with a single flower sitting inside it with a block of wood tied to a pole. She then looked towards a rectangular obelisk like structure with a round outcrop on the right and saw a picture of a woman taped onto it and a flower wreath over the top and hanging from the outcrop. Turning her head to another area of the ghetto, she noticed more blocks of woods tied to stone structures and one such area had a small paper window, two books lying in front of it and to the right, a superhero figurine and a Godzilla toy. Another area had a dark yellow cloth tied round a pole with the two ends that made up the knot blowing in the wind.

"So this is where it all started," Euphemia thought, feeling rather depressed, "This is where I started my campaign to eradicate Britannia's corruption."

There were various memorials set up to commemorate the dead and in truth, the pink-haired girl found it all rather depressing. After the massacre, the survivors had all decided that it was best to steer clear of the ghetto for fear that the military may return to finish what they started and it was only now that they were starting to feel that it was safe enough to return. However, they were still pretty weary as they knew that it was only because someone had managed to reach Prince Clovis in the G-1 Base that the massacre was stopped and many believed that the military may decide to return and resume the massacre since the danger to the Prince had passed and he was still alive, though unfortunately the same could not be said for Rochelle and the residents of Shinjuku feared revenge attacks as it was clear to them that Rochelle had been murdered in their ghetto and many Britannians probably held them all responsible for her demise despite Rei's confession.

As for Euphemia, she could not help but let out a depressed sigh, feeling that the ghetto had become a graveyard. It was even more depressing knowing that these people had been killed because of her mother and her insane campaign to exterminate the Japanese people off the face of the Earth completely and it did not help matters that Euphemia knew that her mother had done it all because she believed that she had died during the war and was seeking to avenge her. It was disgusting and Euphemia could not help but let out a disgusted snarl as she shook her head. The absurdity of it all was too much to bear. "Operation: Eleven Genocide" had been implemented for her sake and it was because of that that Euphemia had felt obligated to kill her mad mother. Of course, she could not tell Suzaku that.

"Man, they didn't use RG on the Elevens, I figured they wouldn't," a voice came, bringing Euphemia out of her thoughts and causing both her and Suzaku to turn around to look behind them and noticed two Britannian teenagers up at an old rectangular brick structure that looked like a giant sarcophagus with an old worn-down statue of a woman with a child facing her and a baby in her arms sitting on top, though the woman's head had been knocked off and was lying nearby.

Looking at the two boys, Euphemia recognised the uniforms they were wearing and immediately deduced that they were students from Ashford Academy.

"Hey look," one of the; obviously the one who had not yet spoken said as he noticed something, "Those are marks from hover rounds. Get a clear shot of it."

"Say cheese," the first boy, who had his back to the two onlookers and was obviously holding a camera said as he pushed the button that activated the camera's snapshot.

Euphemia glared at them, finding their activities appalling. The boy with his back to her and Suzaku had a brown rectangular schoolbag with the Ashford Academy insignia on the back mounted on his back and wore a red bandana over the top of his head. The other boy had short dark greyish blue hair and was currently posing for the camera with his back to the old monument.

"Got it, okay, me next," the first boy said as he moved to give his friend the camera so he could have his picture taken, much to Euphemia's displeasure.

Did they not realise that what they were doing was disrespectful to the dead? From listening to their conversation, it was clear to her that they found it cool and obviously did not care much for the dead. People had died here and yet those two inconsiderate morons were examining the destruction and taking photographs as if none of it mattered, but then again, she knew that they probably saw the dead as "Elevens" and given their attitude, it was clear that "Elevens" did not matter in the slightest. Nothing mattered to those two and it made Euphemia sick to her stomach. It was because of people like them that mostly all Britannians were tarred with the same brush and she was not immune to it. She remembered seeing Japanese sending glares her way for no particular reason other than the fact that she was Britannian and it both infuriated and upset her. She had done absolutely nothing wrong and yet, because she was Britannian, the Japanese automatically assumed that she was an oppressor and took delight in making their lives a living hell. However, she did not blame them for that and instead shifted blame and diverted her hatred to Britannia as many Britannians did get with the program as it were and those two were prime examples of why she hated Britannia.

* * *

Meanwhile in the settlement, a lone Sutherland with the red markings of the Purist Faction was currently speeding towards the Shinjuku Ghetto with its assault rifle at the ready and its stun tonfas also at the ready and had just rounded a corner.

"This is accurate?" the Sutherland's pilot, Jeremiah Gottwald said in a somewhat excited tone, "This information about Rei?"

"Yes sir, Lord Kewell contacted me," the person he had been talking to over his Sutherland's communicator said simply.

* * *

"Right, set up a cordon round Shinjuku Ghetto Sector Four at once," Jeremiah replied from inside the cockpit with seriousness in his voice.

This was his big chance, he told himself, his big chance to redeem himself for what happened the previous night. What happened the previous night at Suzaku Kururugi's court martial was still a mystery to him as he had no memory of what had occurred. The last thing he remembered clearly was part of Rei's mask opening up and a reddish orange bird-like symbol glowing in her bright blue eye as she ordered him to release Suzaku Kururugi before the symbol in her eye performed a flapping motion. He had seen the footage of what had happened and also heard the recordings over his communicator as he apparently went berserk and started shouting and berating his subordinates for attempting to stop Rei and her accomplice from escaping with Suzaku Kururugi. It did not take him long to deduce that whatever had happened to him had been a result of that mysterious glowing insignia in Rei's eye. In short, he knew that Rei had somehow used some sort of supernatural hypnotic power to force him to help them and given that she had used it almost immediately after she mentioned this "Orange" whatever it was, many people had believed that he had been acting to prevent the details of whatever "Orange" was about from going public and because of it, he had lost his position as Intern Viceroy with the police refusing to trust the administration and with Princess Cornelia on her way to relieve him and given her fiery temper and hatred for terrorists, Jeremiah knew that unless a miracle occurred, Princess Cornelia would take out her frustrations on him and the Purist Faction.

It did not help that many in the Purist Faction also blamed him for letting Rei get away. Because of Rei and her mysterious hypnotic power, the entire Purist Faction had lost their popularity and many in the Purist Faction saw him as a suitable scapegoat to vent their frustrations on as it was him who had assisted Rei and her accomplice. Sure, no one actually had come forward and made their anger known, but he could see their animosity and distrust in their eyes as they glared at him. The Purist Faction was finished as far as their hold on power went and unless Jeremiah could find some way of apprehending Rei and bringing this whole thing to a swift conclusion, he knew that the Purist Faction would undoubtedly abandon him and throw him to the wolves; namely Princess Cornelia and her advisors, so when he had been contacted with information that Rei had been sighted, he immediately jumped at the chance, hoping to apprehend her, prove that she had hypnotised him, present her to Princess Cornelia and ultimately regain the glory and prestige that the Purist Faction had lost.

Of course, he knew he had to proceed with caution as having a supernatural power to hypnotise people made Rei extremely dangerous and in truth, he was a bit scared as he feared falling under its influence again, but the desire to regain what he and his faction had lost quickly overpowered his fears and he vowed that he would expose Rei's supernatural power and prove its existence as he now knew that Bartley and the others had fallen under its influence as, like him, they had apparently suffered memory loss and the post-mortems on the dead Royal Guardsmen revealed that they had all apparently committed suicide since the striation marks on the bullets matched the striation marks from their own weapons. As ridiculous as it sounded, Jeremiah knew that there was no other possible explanation for it. Rei had used some sort of hypnosis to coerce him into helping her. Of course, he knew that no one would believe him if he told them that and so, he sought to find proof before doing anything else.

"I'll make you pay Rei," he thought to himself as he glared into his monitor, visualising Rei within it, "You'll regret making a fool out of Jeremiah Gottwald."

Of course, there was also a matter of pride involved as Rei had been a woman and had managed to get the best of him had somewhat been a blow to his pride. Of course, Jeremiah was not particularly sexist or chauvinistic. After all, some of the Empire's best knights were women. Half of the Knights of the Round were women and Princess Cornelia, the Chief General of the Imperial Army was a woman. He once served under Princess Cornelia as a guard at the Aries Villa as a guard to Empress Marianne vi Britannia, who herself was a phenomenal Knightmare Frame pilot and had once been the Knight of Six. He knew that against any of them, he would undisputedly lose. What made Rei so different though was that she was a complete stranger to him and in his view, she was an "Eleven" and the fact that some stranger had managed to get the best of him was just something he would not let stand and the fact that this stranger was female and possibly an "Eleven" that he considered inferior only made it a whole lot worse.

* * *

"Cordon Sector Four, Roger," the man Jeremiah had been talking to said from the Purist Faction's headquarters as he and a man to his right sat in front of monitors; one for each of them.

They were currently sitting at a control panel and the monitors displayed data as the man Jeremiah had been talking to pushed a button on the control panel to shut down the communication link to Jeremiah and then leaned back on his seat.

"Okay, ball's in your court now Lord Kewell," he said as he and his colleague both turned to face one another; being in on Kewell's plot to do away with Jeremiah.

However, a sword suddenly swished between them and came to a halt at neck-level, causing both men to turn to see Villetta Nu dressed in her Knightmare pilot attire and holding the sword as she glared dangerously at the pair.

"I wanted to be put through to Lord Jeremiah," she said sternly, looking ready to kill them both, "But it appears that you're too busy now."

* * *

Back in Shinjuku, the two students' activities had attracted unwanted attention as the brown-haired boy with the bandana was caught off guard as a hand slapped the camera out of his hand.

"Get outta here you damn Britannian bastards," a Japanese man with reddish brown hair and wearing a purple coat, blue jeans and a red headband said as he clenched his fist in front of him and glared dangerous at the two students, causing them to look on in fear.

* * *

"Uh," Euphemia said as she gasped at the scene as she recognised the man's voice as the voice of the man she had dubbed "P5" during the Shinjuku massacre and she also recognised the red headband round his head as well as the heads of two others in his company; one she recognised as one of the three accompanying Ohgi and Kallen when she set up her first face-to-face meeting with them as Rei; Yoshida she believed his name was. The third member of the party, she did not recognise, though he had short purple hair and wore rectangular-framed glasses.

"Stay here," Suzaku said as he immediately dropped his bag and ran off towards them, obviously intending to try and diffuse the situation.

* * *

"How dare a lowly Eleven speak like…" the boy with the bandana tried to say with a tone of absolute authority as if he believed the man was incapable of harming him.

"Don't call me an Eleven!" the man in the purple coat said furiously, interrupting him as he held his arms out at his sides as if presenting himself and took a step towards the boy and the boy backed away, "I'm Japanese!"

"Wrong, you seem to forget that you people lost," the second boy said as he moved closer to the man in order to defend his friend, though from the sound of his voice, he was more afraid, "You're nothing but a beaten dog."

"Yeah, that's right," the first boy said rather smugly as he acted as if he were in a position of authority, "We can walk all over you whenever we want and do whatever we want to you guys and there's not a damn thing you can do about it because we're Britannians."

"You racist pigs," the man in the purple coat growled dangerously as he looked ready to take a swing at the boy wearing the bandana.

"Easy Tamaki, they're just kids," the purple-haired man, Yoshitaka said with a hint of worry in his voice.

"Stop!" a new voice came grabbing everyone's attention before Tamaki could respond as the noticed someone running towards them, "Please, no violence!"

"Stay outta this!" Tamaki growled as he attempted to backhand the newcomer across the face and although he missed, he did manage to swat the newcomer's sunglasses off, causing them to fall to the ground and upon noticing the boy's face, he and his two accomplices gasped in surprise.

"Uh, you're that…" one of the students said as he and his friend looked on in equal surprise as their three tormentors.

"Are you… Suzaku Kururugi…?" Tamaki asked in stunned astonishment.

"The guy who killed Rochelle?" Yoshida said as Suzaku looked off to the side, feeling somewhat ashamed at being recognised.

"No you idiot, it was Rei who killed her," Yoshitaka said, clarifying the facts.

It was then that Tamaki managed to find his voice and he felt his anger return and he glared at Suzaku.

"Ha, this guy's nothing more than a slave," he scoffed, causing Suzaku to look at him with a look of protest, "Big deal, you're an Honorary Britannian. Nobody cares. You sold your pride, your people, your soul, yet you call yourself Japanese."

"No, you're wrong…!" Suzaku protested as he made an attempt to stand up for himself, though the increase in anger in Tamaki's voice as he spoke made him flinch.

"I am not wrong," Tamaki said as he moved towards Suzaku, ready to take a swing at him, but Suzaku immediately reacted by grabbing Tamaki's wrist and shirt and threw him over the top of him, "You stinkin' Britannian lapdoooog!"

Everyone looked on in astonishment and from where she was, Euphemia wanted to step in, but unfortunately she knew that would be dangerous for her as she knew that these three Japanese men were the same group she had allied herself with as Rei and there was the chance that they could recognise her voice as she had used her real voice during the Shinjuku massacre and given Tamaki's disapproval of her as he clearly wanted credit for himself, he may end up blurting something out. He was definitely mad enough to accidentally let something slip and then she'd be in deep trouble; not only with Ohgi and his group, but with Suzaku as well as he'd clearly take note of Tamaki's rambles and probably end up arresting them all and then there was the two students. They'd probably end up telling everyone at Ashford about the incident and that could prove disastrous for Nunnally as the authorities might contact her and recognise her and then she would end up going back to Pendragon as the Emperor's plaything and that was something she would not allow to happen under any circumstances and so, she decided that it was best to keep her mouth shut as she did not want to use her Geass on these people in case she needed to use it on them later and using it now would render them immune in future and that could prove disastrous.

Tamaki landed not far from where Suzaku was standing, much to everyone's surprise.

"Stop, please," Suzaku pleaded, though with stern seriousness in his voice as Tamaki moved to get up off his back while glaring at Suzaku dangerously, "I warn you, I've been trained for military combat. Don't make me fight against my own people."

"Like hell we're you're people," Tamaki spat with venomous hatred in his voice, remembering how Rei, Kallen and Ohgi risked an awful lot to free this man and how he repaid them by refusing to join them and returning to his "masters".

"Come on, just let it go," Yoshitaka said as he started to walk away with Yoshida following in tow.

"Humph, lousy traitor," Tamaki grunted before following his associates, but noticed a pink-haired Britannian girl watching the whole scene and noticed how she gave Suzaku a worrying look, "And just what the hell are you lookin' at you Britannian whore!"

"Kieusero teme!" the girl shouted back as she shot Tamaki a rather infuriated glare.

Tamaki's eyes widened in astonishment as he heard what the girl had just said. What was astonishing was that she had phrased it in Japanese, but unfortunately, his anger returned as he interpreted the girl's use of the Japanese language as a mocking insult.

"Why you disrespectful little tramp," he growled as he started to lunge towards her, but Yoshida grabbed his wrist and dragged him away.

"Let's just go Tamaki, they're not worth it," he said, clearly frustrated and with a look that told Tamaki that he had better do as he said or else.

"Fine," Tamaki scoffed as he sighed in defeat as he stormed off past both his associates clearly fuming with rage and wanting to get as far away from Suzaku and his … at least what he believed to be his Britannian girlfriend as he could get.

Euphemia then turned to face Suzaku as he stared at the ground as he looked as if he was feeling sorry for himself.

"Suzaku," she said as she walked over to him, having picked up his bag, "Oh my, are you okay?"

"Yeah," Suzaku said with a nod as Euphemia handed him his bag, which he accepted, "I'm alright."

"Well I'm not okay, just look at my Prime-G and my LX4," the boy with the bandana said as he picked up his camera.

"Why did you wait?" the second boy asked, feeling more confident now that the three "Elevens" had left, "Damn it, some honorary citizen you are."

"Why'd you let 'em go, you should've killed 'em," the first boy said in the same boastful tone of authority as before as he and his friend walked up to him; both glaring at him, "What's a few dead Elevens to a guy like you? Who'd you think's been takin' care of you all these years anyway?"

Euphemia had heard enough. How dare they treat Suzaku like that and after he had just possibly saved their lives from those three terrorists. She walked over to the first boy and then delivered a devastating punch to his face.

"I'll not allow you to insult this man any longer you oaf," she said as she glared furiously at the boy… or more specifically, his camera as he stumbled backwards.

She then snatched the camera from his hands and threw it down to the ground so hard that cracks had started to appear in various places and then, she kicked it to her left and it bounced along the ground and landed somewhere further within the ghetto.

"What the hell man?" the second boy said as he glared at Euphemia, unable to believe what she had just done, "What's your damn problem?"

"My problem is that it's because of people like you that Britannians are given a bad name the world over," Euphemia replied as she turned her glare towards him, "Suzaku here just saved your lives. You might want to show more gratitude because if it wasn't for him, who knows what those three men would've done to you."

Suzaku let out a small appreciative smile as he was touched that Euphemia was standing up for him, but in truth, part of him felt that he deserved the treatment both those Japanese men and those two students were giving him. Part of him wanted to suffer and be ridiculed. He felt that he deserved it for causing the death of his father, but he knew Euphemia disagreed and they would only probably end up arguing if he told her, so he decided to remain quiet.

The first boy, who had recovered from Euphemia's punch, though he felt a trickle of wetness run down from his nose and knowing that it was blood, he glared at Euphemia as he glanced at his camera.

"You fuckin' bitch," he growled as he glared back at Euphemia, outraged that she dared ruin his precious camera, "Do you have any idea how much that cost?"

"Like I care," Euphemia said dismissively with a yawn, "You're being disrespectful. People died here and what you see are memorials set up to commemorate the dead. You should show some respect."

"So what, they're Elevens," the boy said with a scoff, "Nobody gives a shit."

"Japanese," Euphemia corrected as she glared at the arrogant oaf of a boy, "They're Japanese and their relatives care and I care."

"What the hell are you, some sort of Eleven sympathiser?" the boy shot back, "You seem to forget that those people lost. They're nothing more than beaten dogs."

Euphemia chuckled as a sinister smile crept onto her face as the two boys looked at her questioningly and in truth, started to feel a bit scared as there was definitely something about Euphemia that did not sit well with them.

"As that Tamaki guy and his friends just proved; a beaten dog can still bite if provoked," she said as her glare returned and she took a step towards the two students, "Now, I suggest you take his advice and get the hell outta here!"

That was not a request; it was a demand and a very threatening one at that as from the sound of Euphemia's voice that if they did not follow her command, she would make them regret it. Unfortunately, the first boy did not seem to get the message, though from the way the second boy was cowering, it was clear that he did.

"And just who the hell are you to order us?" the first boy spoke up rather smugly, "We don't listen to traitors that sympathise with those disgusting Elevens."

In response, Euphemia removed her cap and glasses, hoping that they'd recognise her at the student council's vice president as they were both from Ashford. Needless to say, both boys' eyes widened as it was clear that they did indeed recognise her.

"What the?" the second boy said in astonishment, "No way, ain't that chick on the student council?"

Euphemia scoffed in disgust at being referred to as a chick.

"Big mistake Lamperouge," the first boy said, clearly knowing exactly who she was as he reached into his right trouser pocket and pulled out a penknife and quickly swished the blade up, "You may vice-president of the student council, but we ain't in school and you can't boss us around."

Euphemia just shook her head, not in the least bit phased at the knife.

"You really are pathetic," she said as she shook her head with a pitiful look on her face.

"You're dead Lamperouge," the boy said as Suzaku moved to stop him, but Euphemia raised her hand to stop him.

"But Euphie, he's gonna…" Suzaku started to say in protest, stunned that Euphemia had stopped him.

"I'll be fine Suzaku," Euphemia said in a reassuring tone as she flashed him a rather carefree and innocent smile.

"Boy, you even let him call you by that nickname yer sister and Fenette call you," the boy with the knife said with a hint of disgust in his voice, "I guess I'm doin' the school a huge favour, but don't worry, they'll probably just assume that some Elevens did it. When you want to get rid of your fellow countrymen, Numbers make ideal scapegoats."

Suzaku's eyes widened at hearing this as he was momentarily brought back to what Rei said about how was used as a scapegoat because of his Japanese origins.

"Oh, but I'm not worth it," Euphemia said as she activated her Geass, seeing that Suzaku was not facing her, "Get the hell outta here and don't come back ever and for the record; this never happened!"

The two boys opened their mouths to protest, but suddenly felt some strange sensation enter their right eyes and then, their words left them and they both calmed down and then started to walk away as the first boy pushed the blade of his penknife back into the hilt and put it back in his pocket.

"Yeah, sure," he said simply, much to Suzaku's surprise as he watched the two boys walk away.

Suzaku watched them go with a stunned look on his face, unable to believe that they had changed their minds. However, had he looked into their eyes, he would have noticed the strange reddish orange glow round the edges of their irises, indicating that they were under the control of Euphemia's Geass, though he could not help but think back to when Jeremiah suddenly had a change of heart right out of the blue at his court martial when Rei made her appearance. Of course, it had been immediately after Rei had mentioned that "Orange" thing when Jeremiah had his sudden change of heart and it could be nothing, but Suzaku could not help but note how similar the two incidents were. Back at his court martial, Jeremiah had been so adamant about having him tried and executed and looked as if he would not bow to anyone, but then suddenly; without any hesitation, he changed his mind, just as those two boys changed their minds about killing Euphemia and he also noted the strange feeling he got coming from Euphemia. He did not know what it was exactly, but something about Euphemia did not feel right at the moment and he remembered having the same feeling from Rei when she issued her demands immediately before Jeremiah started acting strangely.

"No way, it couldn't be," he thought, shaking his head as he dismissed that notion entirely.

For a moment, he wondered if Euphemia had been Rei, but almost immediately dismissed it as he did not believe that Euphemia was capable of pulling something of that magnitude off, even if she wanted to. He still saw her as the kind and sweet girl he had come to know during their time at the Kururugi Shrine before and during the war and Euphemia definitely was not that strong or agile. He knew she had a deep-seeded hatred for her own country, but he did not believe she had the resources of the courage to go through with something like that and besides, Rochelle li Britannia had been her mother and Suzaku doubted Euphemia would want to murder her mother; even if what Rei told him about how Shinjuku had been a massacre was true. It had to be a coincidence he told himself with a nod.

* * *

Unbeknownst to either of them behind the wall of a nearby ruined building to their right, the girl poked her head out from the end to her left and watched as the two boys walked by her and totally ignored her despite them apparently noticing her. Feeling rather insulted, since she was a Britannian Princess and felt that they should have noticed her and try to get her attention, she opened her mouth to protest, but her words totally left her as her eyes widened in a mixture of surprise, astonishment, wonder and a little bit of fear as she noticed the strange reddish orange glow highlighting the edges of their irises.

"W-w-what?" she thought to herself, unable to comprehend what was going on.

However, she had heard what Euphemia had said to them and since they seemed to be obeying her and seeing the glow in their eyes, she quickly deduced that Euphemia had made them leave through some form of supernatural hypnosis; hence why they completely ignored her as she had not been part of Euphemia's command and in a way, she found herself glad that she had noticed the strange glow as she was sure that if she complained, she would have given herself away and the last thing she wanted was Euphemia noticing her and feeling threatened as she believed that Euphemia may decide to kill her given their past rivalry and animosity towards each other.

However, as she thought about Euphemia's strange hypnosis and remembering hearing about Rei and how Jeremiah apparently went berserk and then claimed to have no memory of what happened afterwards; not to mention a lot of people who had supposed to have been protecting Rochelle and Clovis claimed to have similar memory loss; her eyes widened in shock at a startling revelation.

"Oh no way," she thought as she gave Euphemia an unsure look as she witnessed her placing a hand on Suzaku's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him, "Don't tell me that…!"

However, the edges of her lips suddenly curved upwards as a sinister smirk crept onto the girl's face as she started inwardly laughing at this new revelation, though she did not know for sure, with what she had seen just now and heard from various sources over the last couple of days along with Jeremiah's apparent betrayal, the evidence was quite significant.

"I never knew you had it in you to pull something like this off Euphemia," she thought evilly as she continued to observe the pair, "Seems you're not as pacifistic as everyone originally took you for. Perhaps the war toughened you up some, eh? This is gonna be more entertaining that I originally thought."

* * *

Meanwhile back at Ashford Academy in Euphemia's room of the student council clubhouse, C.C., who had returned after collecting herself and regaining her composure had changed out of Euphemia's outfit and was in the process of getting back into her restraining suit with Sayoko, how had gotten out of her disguise and was back in her maid outfit sitting at the computer at Euphemia's desk as she uploaded the data she had collected from the laptop she had been using earlier.

"For Euphemia-sama to use her Geass, she needs to have direct eye contact with the subject," she said to C.C. as she explained what Euphemia had told her the previous night as C.C. was in the process of putting on her restraining suit, "Transparent objects like eyeglasses present no problem for her. The effective range is approximately two-hundred and seventy metres and the subject appears to have no memories of before, during or after the power is used."

C.C. seemed to ignore her as she reached behind her and brought her hands up underneath her hair, bringing it up as she manoeuvred the upper part of her suit into place so as to prevent it from going over her hair and restricting her movements with her head; plus it would be a pain having her hair underneath the suit.

"Euphemia-sama and I think this is due to damage caused by the Geass interfering with the brain of the subject," Sayoko went on, knowing that C.C. was listening to her despite seemingly ignoring her, "Also, if the signal's optical, Euphemia-sama can reflect it."

"I'm impressed, in the short time she's had it, she's learned a lot," C.C. commented as she started doing up the buttons and zips at the front of the suit.

"Euphemia-sama's opponent is an empire that controls more than one third of the entire world," Sayoko said as she got up and walked over to look outside the window where Milly, Nina and Shirley stood behind Nunnally's wheelchair with Milly holding onto the handles as Sayoko had feigned illness in order to impersonate Euphemia, "There's no such thing as being too careful."

"I'd understand if she was an Eleven; in fact, I'd understand if it were you since you are an Eleven," C.C. said with a hint of curiosity in her voice as she turned to face her, "But's Euphemia's a Britannian, isn't she? This opponent might be too large and strong to fight with only Geass for a weapon."

"I'm not an Eleven, I'm Japanese!" Sayoko said with a hint of warning in her voice as she turned her head to shoot the immortal witch a deadly glare before calming down, "Anyway, to answer your question… Euphemia-sama asked me if it was good to be strong."

* * *

"Is it bad to be weak?" Suzaku said to Euphemia back in the Shinjuku Ghetto as he was unknowing having a similar conversation with her as Sayoko was having with C.C., "You remember, back when we were children, the world seemed like such a terribly sad place; a world without any hope at all."

Euphemia just nodded in agreement as she remembered telling Sayoko this the previous night.

* * *

Back in Euphemia's bedroom, C.C. just watched Sayoko curiously as she started to iterate what Euphemia had told her.

"Starvation," Sayoko said with a hint of bitterness in her voice as she was in agreement with Euphemia since Japan was her homeland and Britannia had practically stole it from the Japanese and left them with nothing.

* * *

"Disease," Suzaku went on in his own sad tone as he remembered the horrors he had witness during the war.

* * *

"Filth," Sayoko continued and from the bitterness in her voice, C.C. started to wonder if she had gotten into a rant, "Decay."

* * *

"Racism," Suzaku continued as Euphemia continued to listen with morbid curiosity.

* * *

"Constant war and terrorism," Sayoko continued on as the bitterness in her tone only seemed to increase.

* * *

"Living in a never-ending cycle of hate," Suzaku went on as a small tad of bitterness entered his voice.

* * *

"Rats running in a wheel," Sayoko practically spat as she shook her head, glaring down at the ground outside as she ignored Nunnally and the three student council members.

* * *

"The cycle must be broken," Suzaku stated as Euphemia noticed a seriousness enter his eyes as his tone became more serious as well, "Somebody has to do it."

* * *

"How idealistic," C.C. said in a dismissive tone as she turned away from Sayoko.

* * *

"Of course, it's doubtful that the one who does it will make all the bad things go away," Suzaku said with a sigh, to which Euphemia nodded in agreement.

* * *

"But Euphemia-sama's not that arrogant and neither am I," Sayoko said in response to C.C.'s comment, "And so…"

* * *

"No one should lose more of the people they love," Suzaku went on as his tone started to sound desperate before he apparently calmed down, "At least… a world without war."

* * *

"And to have this utopia, Euphemia would…" C.C. started to say as she clasped her hands behind her back as Sayoko turned to face her back.

* * *

"How would you do it?" Euphemia asked as she started at Suzaku; curious as to what his answer would be, though she already had her own answer and wondered just how different Suzaku's answer would be.

* * *

"It's simple," Sayoko said as she turned away from the window and walked over to a table where Euphemia kept a chessboard and chess pieces, "According to Euphemia-sama, when somebody wins, the fighting will end."

She picked up a white knight piece and then knocked over the black queen piece with it as she spoke as if to emphasise what she had just said.

"Somebody?" C.C. asked curiously.

* * *

"I don't know how you would do it," Suzaku said, giving his answer as he reached into his trouser pocket and took out his father's old watch and held it in his hand to look at it, "But if I stop trying, then my father's death will have been in vain."

"But didn't you kill him?" Euphemia asked curiously as she remembered him telling her that.

"My own father died because he had to sacrifice his own life in that war," Suzaku replied with increasing anger in his voice, "And yes, I did kill him, but only to save you and Nunnally as well as the rest of the Japanese people. I had no other choice, so in a way, what I said at first was correct."

Euphemia nodded as she remembered Genbu Kururugi quite well. The late Prime Minister had not exactly been the most welcoming host and had regarded both her and Nunnally with nothing but contempt, especially when she had helped Suzaku with his chores and had even gone as far as to befriend his niece, Kaguya Sumeragi, the daughter of his late wife's brother, Kyoya Sumeragi. Genbu believed that Euphemia had corrupted them both with her "Britannian influence" and only left her alone simply because of her status as a political hostage and bargaining chip, though Euphemia suspected that he hated her because she made Suzaku happy; something that Genbu himself hated as he blamed Suzaku's birth for the death of his wife. He just did not like the fact that his son was experiencing happiness and had gone out of his way to make Suzaku's life miserable

It had absolutely sickened her that a father could wish such a fate on his son, but then again, she had had a bad experience with her own father and he was the one she had sworn to kill and in truth, she had seen a lot of the Emperor in Genbu. Genbu had also been a firm believer in Social Darwinism in that the strong would rise above and crush the weak and like the Emperor, he was quite prepared to sacrifice his entire country just to save his own neck. That was how Euphemia portrayed both Genbu and the Emperor; power hungry tyrants only in it for themselves and would stop at nothing to get what they wanted; going as far as to sacrifice their own people to accomplish their goals. She had definitely shed no tears when Suzaku told her that he had killed his father. In fact, she was glad that he did and if it had not have been for Suzaku's depression at the time, she would have thanked him. A man who would rather see the extinction of his own people than accept their defeat definitely did not deserve to live in her opinion and Euphemia knew that if it had have been her own father, he would have done the same thing as in Social Darwinism, the weak perished and since Genbu knew the Japanese could not win, he saw them as weak, which is why he ordered them all to march to their deaths… at least that's how Euphemia saw it. She knew that there was a possibility that there was more to it, but she did not dwell on it.

As for Suzaku, she knew that he had taken his father's death pretty hard. She knew that it was the main catalyst for his philosophy and the fact that his father's associates had covered up Genbu's death as seppuku only made matters worse for him as he felt that he should have been blamed for it and now sought his own destruction.

"I just don't understand you Suzaku," she thought as she gave him a worried look of concern, "You killed him to save Nunnally and me, so why are you so depressed? Do you honestly believe that by dying you'll find atonement? Wrong, you're just throwing away your life for nothing. You were quite justified in what you did and I believe that had you not done so, he probably would have killed you as well."

Of course, she knew that telling him that would not do any good. Suzaku was stubborn to the point of going into denial. Euphemia suspected that some part of Suzaku knew the truth, but he just refused to admit it. He was totally naïve and stupid. He would not budge on his beliefs no matter what and if something occurred that proved him wrong, he would just find some excuse to justify himself and refuse to listen to reason. She supposed that it was just his fear and what it could mean for him if he did admit what he had been trying to deny himself.

"Idiot," she went on in her thoughts, "It's simple you moron. When somebody wins, the fighting ends… at least for a while. I'll admit that if I do succeed and kill the Emperor, someone else could potentially come in and take his place. That's why I intend not only to liberate Japan and bring down Britannia, but also minimise the chances of war itself."

* * *

Unbeknownst to them and even the girl watching them, another person had been stalking them since they had been in the settlement. Rolo stood a good distance away as he observed Euphemia and Suzaku from beside a memorial in which lay a rather old, torn and ragged old teddy bear lying on top of a nursery picture book with a cartoonish picture of a samurai wielding a sword with eyes at the end of the blade. However, Rolo just ignored the memorial, though he was respectful enough not to disturb it as he stood a few feet away as he continued to observe Euphemia.

Technically, his mission did not start until Monday, but since he had been out exploring the settlement to get a better idea of where he could potentially go while following Euphemia, he had noticed Euphemia and Suzaku and knowing that Euphemia was his target, he figured that he'd get an early start on his assignment and so far, she had done nothing that would imply that she was Rei, but he did not find that strange as she was in the company of the boy she had saved the previous night and was no doubt keeping him in the dark as from what he had seen yesterday, the boy had turned himself in and apparently showed no interests in joining her. He could not help but find that strange. Here was someone who had been used as a scapegoat for the crime that Rei herself had committed and when she saved him from executed, he repaid her by refusing to join her and turning himself in. He just could not understand that, though he knew that he must have his reasons.

However, what he did find out was that Euphemia knew this boy and they were apparently really close friends. It did not take a genius to figure out why Euphemia had saved him. She obviously did not want to see her friend go down for a crime that she had committed and it was surprising that she could stand being in his company after he refused to join her, even if he was clueless to the fact that she had been the one who had saved his life. He thought that she would have wanted nothing to do with him or at the very least show outward signs that she was not happy being in his company.

"More observation is needed," he noted to himself with a determined nod.

His superior and surrogate mother, Eleanor el Britannia, who for the duration of their mission had adopted the alias, Elaine Goodwin knew where he was. When he first noticed Euphemia, he had phoned her up and asked if he could follow her, to which Eleanor had agreed as she believed that with Euphemia moving sooner than they had anticipated, they had fallen well behind schedule and she saw it as a means of making up for lost time.

He had to admit that he did love Eleanor as if she were his mother. She had after all taken care of him since V.V. given him to her. He knew that his name was Rolo. That much was certain. He just did not know what his family name was, though he knew that it did have the word, "Britannia" in it. Eleanor had told him as much, plus he had the same colour of purple eyes as the Emperor, V.V. who was in reality the Emperor's twin brother and many of the Emperor's sons and daughters. He knew that the Emperor was his father, but what he did not know was which of the Imperial Consorts was his mother. Even Eleanor did not know, though she did know that he was a reject. Eleanor knew that Rolo had been born with a weak heart and had heart trouble since he was a child. From what she had told him, he had been born suffering a heart attack and although the doctors had managed to save him, the Emperor had deemed him as damaged good, believing that he would die from his heart problems before he could fulfil anything of value and in effect, booted him out of the Imperial Palace.

V.V. had then taken him to the Geass Directorate and when he was only six, V.V. had given him a Geass power, though he could only use his Geass in short bursts due to the strain it put on his heart, which caused it to stop. Using Geass put a strain on the heart and though normal people could withstand the strain to the point where it was unnoticeable; people like Rolo with weak hearts could not and prolonged use of his Geass could potentially prove fatal, but that did not hamper him. His Geass was best for assassinations and thanks to his Geass; he had become one of the OSI's best assassins as he had assassinated many VIPs since he was just a child. His Geass power was only limited to fifteen-second bursts, but for the majority of his missions, it was more than enough. He remembered that he'd once killed a target in the middle of a crowded street without being seen and the surrounding people had been dumbfounded as to what had happened. Another time, he had managed to slip into the target's limousine and kill him with his driver in the front seat and his butler holding the door open without being seen.

After a while, V.V. had handed him over to Eleanor, a woman who had come to the Geass Directorate as a child and who was also given a Geass; a power similar, but not quite the same as his own. Eleanor did not get on all that well with her own son, Schneizel, the Britannian Prime Minister and Second Prince of the Empire and Rolo had filled the void perfectly. Eleanor had raised Rolo as if he were her own son and loved him dearly and as such, Rolo mostly adopted the codename, Rolo Haliburton as a mark of respect and gratitude as Haliburton was Eleanor's maiden name. It was the name he signed under on Ashford Academy's register. He was indeed grateful to Eleanor for everything she had done for him; so grateful in fact that his loyalty was to her and her alone. Not even V.V. nor the Emperor had his loyalty; especially the Emperor as Rolo could not help but feel a great animosity towards that man for abandoning him because of his weakness. Rolo had already proven him wrong with his number of successful assassinations, which were so numerous that he had long since lost count of how many people he had killed, though he reckoned that it was in the hundreds or maybe even the thousands and yet, the Emperor still just shrugged him off. However he continued to serve the Emperor anyway as he did not see the point in assassinating him as he knew it could land him in a whole heap of trouble since V.V. would not let the death of his brother go unpunished since he needed the Emperor for his Ragnarok Connection, whatever that was.

* * *

**Author's Notes **– That's another chapter done finally. I swear, my lack of motivation is killing me. I have to force myself to sit and type this up. I know what I want to put down, but just trying to make myself do it is a nightmare. Anyway, I managed to get Rolo into this chapter and explain his background (at least my version of it). In canon, Rolo has the same eye-colour as Lelouch, the Emperor and V.V. and there's no explanation as to why, though I remember reading somewhere that he had originally been intended to be Lelouch and Nunnally's half-brother and I decided to make him a part of the Imperial Family. I also gave him a weak heart to explain why his heart stopped whenever he uses his Geass and also as an explanation as to why Charles got rid of him as given his philosophy, doing away with Rolo because of his weak heart fits his personality. I also decided to go into his favourite family name of Haliburton and connected it to Eleanor as her maiden name as a show of the respect he has for her for raising him. As for the mysterious stalker, she'll be revealed next chapter and just in case you missed it, she will know that Euphemia is Rei, but will not tell anyone for reasons I will go into next chapter when I reveal her. Anyway, my poll that I put up earlier in the year is still up with the question, who should be the final antagonist and Marianne's in the lead with fourteen votes so far, Charles is in second with nine vote (note, the votes display thirteen and ten for Marianne and Charles respectively since someone gave me a PM saying that they voted for Charles by mistake when they wanted to vote for Marianne) and lastly, Schneizel and V.V. share third place at five votes each, so it looks as if Marianne is going to be the winner since she did so well from the very beginning. Next chapter will bring the Purist civil war to an end and Cornelia and hopefully Clovis will make appearances. I'll try to update quickly, but it all depends on my motivation. I will update, I promise you that much.


	19. Of civil wars and princesses

**Code Geass – Euphemia of the Revelation**

**Of civil wars and princesses**

**Disclaimer **– Code Geass is the property of Sunrise, Bandai Entertainment and Ichiro Okouchi, so I don't own anything afflicted with Code Geass.

* * *

**Warnings **– Strong language, strong violence, Euphemia OOC (obviously), yuri, possible lemons in later chapters (unsure)

* * *

In the Shinjuku Ghetto, Euphemia and Suzaku stood next to a ruined statue atop a rectangular pedestal. Suzaku had just finished explaining his views on the world after he had saved two Ashford Academy students from possibly getting themselves killed after three Japanese men confronted them. However, when he tried to intervene, the three men… or rather, their leader, a man called Tamaki turned his anger towards him and although he and his two cohorts left, the two students had berated him for letting them go free. Luckily Euphemia had come to his defence and somehow managed to convince the two students to leave despite the fact that they had intended to kill her for daring to stand up for the "Elevens".

Anyway, Euphemia was about to say something when a loud explosion grabbed both her and Suzaku's attention, causing them both to look up in front of them and they both saw a plume of smoke rising from a ruined coliseum structure behind a row of trees in where they could just see the top of the structure, which had bits missing from it. It had obviously been an old sports stadium from before the war where sporting events had been held. Birds could also be seen flying away from the area.

"What do you suppose that's about?" Euphemia asked curiously as gave her friend a slightly worrying stare.

"I honestly have no idea," Suzaku replied honestly with a curious look on his face.

* * *

Inside the coliseum were five Sutherland Knightmare Frames with red marking, identifying them as belonging to members of the Purist Faction. However four of them stood opposing the fifth in a semi-circle formation and all four were armed with jousting lances. The fifth, only armed with an assault rifle stood facing the other four with the wall and the stands where the crowds would normally sit of the coliseum behind it and to the Sutherland's right, there was a huge gaping hole in the wall with fire burning where the edges of the wall was and a plume of smoke rising from the devastation.

"Jeremiah!" the voice of Kewell Soresi boomed over his Sutherland's PA system, "You're going to pay for letting Lady Rochelle's murderer go free!"

* * *

"Kewell you dirty coward," Jeremiah growled from inside the cockpit of the cornered Sutherland as he realised that he had been lured into a trap, "That sighting of Rei was a lie, wasn't it?"

In truth, he was seething with fury as he knew what this was really about. He knew Kewell was using the whole "Orange" situation as a means of seizing power for himself. He may have feigned ignorance in the past, but he recalled on several occasions in the past when Kewell had shot him envious glares when he thought he wasn't looking. He knew that Kewell had been after his job right from day one. However, he had also known that Kewell had grudgingly accepted the way things were up until now, but now he saw an opportunity to gain what he had previously believed to have been forever out of his reach and Jeremiah silently cursed himself for failing to see it coming

"I should have known," he cursed in his thoughts, "You were always after my job right from the beginning after all."

He should have seen this coming, but unfortunately, he had been so caught up in his rage over Rei and how she had apparently hypnotised him into helping her that he had been blinded to the goings on round about him. When he heard about this supposed sighting of Rei, rather than suspect that it was a trap, he had been rather ecstatic at the prospect of capturing Rei and clearing his name and he had to wonder if Kewell had known this, considering that he had been the one who had reported the so-called sighting. In short, Jeremiah felt rather stupid for not seeing this coming when he should have. Since Kewell had reported the sighting and given that Jeremiah knew of his desire to usurp control of the Purist Faction from him, he felt that he should have known, but unfortunately he had allowed his feelings to cloud his judgement and now he was going to pay for it.

* * *

"We have to wipe away our disgrace before Princess Cornelia takes up her post here," Kewell's voice boomed from the speakers of his Sutherland's PA system that reverberated off the walls of the coliseum.

* * *

"This is how we keep our officials honest," he finished from inside his cockpit, feeling somewhat excited at the prospect of finally gaining control of the Purist Faction since he had believed that up until now such a feat had been forever out of his reach, though his face remained neutral.

* * *

Back in the Shinjuku Ghetto, Euphemia and Suzaku's attention was diverted to their right when they noticed a brown truck that Suzaku recognised as the SRDT speed towards them and came to a stop in front of them.

"Suzaku!" Cecile shouted as she opened the door with a somewhat serious look on her face.

"Miss Cecile," Suzaku said as both he and Euphemia ran towards the SRDT.

"It's dangerous here, get in," Cecile went on as Suzaku noticed Lloyd standing behind her.

"The Purebloods are having a silly squabble amongst themselves, better get out of here," Lloyd said with his arm rested on the side of the SRDT and he turned to look at Suzaku with a somewhat wicked smile on his face, "Oh and by the way, what a shame about your acquittal… because now you'll have to work for me again."

"Wait, please," Suzaku pleaded as Lloyd turned his back and was about to get back into his seat when Suzaku's plea caused him to stop as he was curious as to what the Honorary Britannian had to say, "Isn't this an opportunity to gather battle data for the Lancelot?"

"Uh," Cecile said in surprise as she gave the young boy a curious look.

"Lancelot?" Euphemia said as she turned her head and gave Suzaku a questioning look.

"Uh huh," Lloyd said as he turned round, realising that Suzaku did make a valid point.

After all, since the whole mess in Shinjuku and Suzaku's arrest, the Special Corp had made some improvements on the Lancelot since then and Lloyd was eager to test them out, plus it was a good opportunity to get back at the Purist Faction for "interfering" with his research as since he now considered Suzaku as part of the Lancelot and seeing how it was the Purist Faction that had him arrested and seeing how Lloyd hated finding replacements, especially since finding someone as skilled as Suzaku was like trying to find a needle in a haystack, Lloyd felt that this was a great opportunity to pay them back for the trouble they had caused him and as an added bonus, Suzaku dealing with them would prove how wrong their views on all non-Britannians were and Suzaku would also gain payback for what they tried to do to him.

"Suzaku?" Euphemia said as she gave him a curious look.

"I'm sorry Euphie, we have to say goodbye here," Suzaku said as he turned to face her and brought his bag from being slung over his shoulder to his side, "I need to do this. I think I can stop them with the Lancelot. I have to try."

Euphemia just looked at him and then she noticed the huge gurney attached to the back of the SRDT with the black tarpaulin sheet draped over whatever it was that was lying on the gurney, but what shocked her was when she saw a pair of feet that undoubtedly belonged to a Knightmare Frame sticking out from the bottom and not only that, but she recognised the white and gold colouring and instantly knew that the Knightmare draped in the tarpaulin sheet was the white and gold Knightmare from Shinjuku that had almost ruined everything for her.

"So that's the Lancelot," she thought and then her eyes widened as a startling realisation washed over her, "But if Suzaku's talking about piloting it, then that means…"

She found her thoughts trailing off as she found herself unable to admit the shocking revelation that she had just discovered, though it did explain a few things, like why the Knightmare had given up chasing her to go rescue someone and Suzaku's shocked reaction when she had told him the truth about what the mess in Shinjuku was really about.

"I… I must," Suzaku finished with a serious look on his face as he brought Euphemia back to reality, making her realise that he hadn't finished talking.

"I see," she said as she closed her eyes and then sighed, still unable to believe what she had just learned, "I understand."

"By the way, it's dangerous here for you as well, miss," Cecile said as she shot Euphemia a worrying gaze, "It might be safer for you if you came with us. We can help get you home. The ghettos are no place for Britannians to wonder even at the best of times."

"Uh," Suzaku said as he gave Cecile a questioning look.

"I don't see why not," Lloyd said in agreement, already having returned to his seat as he turned to look at Euphemia, "After all, I wouldn't want you performance to suffer if anything happened to your girlfriend Suzaku."

"He/she's not my boyfriend/girlfriend," Euphemia and Suzaku both protested in unison, unable to believe that the crazy scientist had made that suggestion.

"Whatever," Lloyd said with a rather uncaring shrug, clearly not all that bothered about the situation, but then turned his attention to Euphemia, "So, what do you say? Are you up for a free ride back to the settlement?"

Euphemia, who had been surprised at Cecile's offer as well as her boss's agreement to it, pondered her predicament. She could refuse and make her way back to the settlement on her own and if she was attacked, she could use her Geass to get her attackers to leave her alone. After all, Britannians in the ghettos were not welcome and many had disappeared in the past. There was always the possibility that some of the residents may attack and attempt to rape her before killing her. It would not matter to them that she was against Britannia. She was Britannian herself and she knew that that was what the Japanese residents had to know; she was a Britannian and that made her a monster as far as they were concerned. She could use her Geass, but she knew of the possibility that Tamaki and his cohorts may decide they wanted to attack her and seeing how they were her allies as Rei, she knew she may need to use her Geass on them at a later date and should they attack her and she was forced to use her Geass to fend them off, it could prove disastrous later should she need to use her Geass on them later seeing how once those who had fallen under her Geass were released, they were immune to its effects.

On the other hand, going with Suzaku and his colleagues could prove beneficial. After all, she could learn something from them; perhaps a possible weakness in the Lancelot that she could utilise should it prove to be a problem in future, though she was still shocked to find out who its pilot was and needless to say, she was a bit apprehensive about the possibility of having to face him in future, but it did explain why that woman back in Shinjuku had been rescued after being unlucky enough to have been caught in the crossfire when she tried to shake the Lancelot off her back and how Suzaku had been shocked when she had told him about Rochelle's "Operation: Eleven Genocide" plan.

A massacre was not in Suzaku's nature. He was one of the kindest people Euphemia had the pleasure of knowing, so it was obvious that Suzaku had not known about the massacre when he had been sent in to deal with the resistance. C.C. had told her that the reason the pilot had possibly rescued that woman was probably to ease his conscience after killing so many innocents, but in truth, Euphemia had doubted that notion and now the rescue of that woman made an awful lot of sense. Suzaku was the kind of person who hated to see people die and rescuing someone was indeed something he would do. However, unfortunately, he had been in the dark about his true purpose and Euphemia knew that he no doubt felt that he was part of the massacre despite not having killed anyone. Since he was ordered to dispose of the resistance and afterwards, the massacre would have resumed had she not made it to the G-1 Base, Suzaku probably felt that he was just as guilty as those carrying out the massacre and seeing how that was not his true nature, it probably served only to add to his depression and he would undoubtedly believe that his damnation was even more justified than it was before and Euphemia knew that it would only cause her one major headache trying to convince him otherwise.

"Damn it all, why are things always so damn difficult," she thought as she made her way towards the SRDT.

"Euphie?" Suzaku said as he looked at her in shock, surprised that she had decided to take Cecile up on her offer.

"Is there a problem Suzaku?" she asked as she turned to glare at him with a "my mind's made up and don't try to stop me" look on her face.

"No," Suzaku sighed in defeat as he knew just how stubborn Euphemia was once her mind was made up.

* * *

Back in the coliseum, one of the opposing Sutherlands had just knocked the assault rifle of Jeremiah's Sutherland out of its hand and then proceeded to pin it to the ground by stabbing it with the jousting lance to prevent Jeremiah from retrieving it.

* * *

"Damn, it's four against one," Jeremiah cursed from inside his cockpit, the last attack having knocked his Sutherland to one knee and caused it to lean back.

Now it was obvious why Kewell was not alone. Jeremiah was a great pilot, not on the level of Marianne "the Flash" or Princess Cornelia, but still good enough for Kewell to doubt that he could defeat him one-on-one. They were both in the same model of Knightmare Frame, so both their units were evenly-matched in terms of strength and power, so a battle between them would be decided by skill alone and Jeremiah knew that he was the better pilot, but unfortunately Kewell was aware of this as well and rather than fight fair, Kewell had brought three of his cronies along with him so they could gang up on him, thus ensuring their victory and it made Jeremiah sick to his stomach that his former colleague and friend was willing to sink this low.

* * *

"COWARD!" Jeremiah's voice boomed furiously over the speakers of his Sutherland's PA system as a small stun gun came out of an attachment atop the Sutherland's left arm from the top of its hand and Jeremiah brought the arm forward and fired off the stun but, the one of the opposing Sutherlands countered by thrusting the tip of its jousting lance into the stun gun before it discharged, causing a flash of white light and then sparks of white lightning emitted from where the lance made contact with the stun gun.

"Don't worry Jeremiah," Kewell's voice came from the opposing Sutherland's PA system as lightning continued to appear from the struggle his jousting lance was having with Jeremiah's stun gun, "We'll say you died in battle. Your family's name won't be disgraced, though I'd like to think we're doing them a favour. I bet they're shocked and appalled at having a disgrace such as yourself among them."

Kewell then withdrew his jousting lance and moved away and another of the opposing Sutherlands moved in from behind and brought its jousting lance down on the right leg of Jeremiah's Sutherland from a vertical angle.

* * *

"You're serious then," Jeremiah seethed from inside his cockpit as he felt the shudder from the last attack.

* * *

"You actually intend to kill me?" his voice boomed from the PA system as the stun tonfa of his Sutherland's left arm moved to its combat-ready position and it swatted at the Sutherland behind it, but the opposing Sutherland easily moved away before the stun tonfa made contact.

* * *

Inside his cockpit, Jeremiah turned his head to the front where the monitor in front of him displayed Kewell's Sutherland and his face contorted with seething fury at how he was being betrayed and made a scapegoat for the whole "Orange" affair. Once again, he cursed himself for allowing his emotions to cloud his thoughts and how it had led to him being in this situation in the first place. He should have known that Kewell would have used the whole "Orange" thing as a means of plotting against him. It should have been clearly obvious to him that Kewell was not stupid enough to let an opportunity such as this pass by. However, he had let his rage and resentment of Rei take charge and Kewell had obviously taken advantage of that and Jeremiah could not help but hate Rei even more as it had been because of his desire to hunt her down and prove his innocence that he was in this situation in the first place. However, since Rei was not here at the moment, he felt that unleashing his rage on someone else would suffice and he knew just the person.

"KEWELL!" he screamed, putting all his rage and hatred into his voice as he glared into the monitor displaying Kewell's Sutherland.

* * *

"Silence Orange!" Kewell's voice came over his Sutherland's PA system from the outside as Kewell's Sutherland stood in front of Jeremiah's, one of the others had taken a position behind the damaged Sutherland and the last two took positions at either side of Jeremiah's Sutherland; all four with their jousting lances ready and pointing at the damaged Knightmare, "Those rumours on how we're seeking to undermine the Imperial Family are completely unfounded and false. We serve the Imperial Family, not oppose it."

* * *

"Why else would we be here?" Kewell concluded from inside his cockpit as he explained himself.

At least that last statement he made was true. Despite what many people thought, especially after that whole "Orange" fiasco, the Purists did serve the Imperial Family and were acting with the Imperial Family's goal in mind. However, that did not mean to say they always agreed with the Imperial Family on how their goals should be obtained and the Purists did succumb to their own greed. Sometimes their own personal ambitions got in the way and opportunities to further those ambitions were too good to pass up and they were so greedy that they refused to let anyone, even the Imperial Family stand in their way, which was why during the whole farce that was Suzaku Kururugi's court martial that communications with the Britannian homeland had been cut. It did not mean that the Purists were against the Imperial Family; it was just that sometimes they believed that things were better handled their own way.

In any case, Kewell smirked as he knew that if he pulled this off, all the Purist Faction's past skeletons in the closet would be forgotten and they'd be where he believed they rightfully belonged. Sure, their plan to seize power for themselves in "Area Eleven" may have gone up in smoke, but Kewell believed that if the Purists could get and remain in Princess Cornelia's good graces, they could possibly have some measure of power and hopefully some sway over some of her decisions. After all, they knew she was not a huge fan of the Honorary Britannian system as she had strong distrust in the "Numbers" and only agreed to use them as an absolute last resort; in other words, when she had exhausted all other options. Perhaps they could even convince her to do away with that practice altogether. After the failed rebellion in "Area Seven", the viceroy had scrapped that practice there due to the "Sevens" who were Honorary Britannians deciding to participate in the rebellion and that was a rebellion that Princess Cornelia had quelled herself.

* * *

Outside, all four Sutherlands readied their lances and sped towards Jeremiah's damaged unit with the intent of impaling him.

"ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!" all four pilots chanted as they sped towards the damaged Knightmare.

However, before any of the lances found their mark, a slash harken fired from a new Knightmare from behind Jeremiah's Sutherland appeared and landing into the ground in front of Kewell's Sutherland, causing him to come to a sudden stop.

* * *

"Wha…?" Kewell said from inside his cockpit, unable to believe what had just happened and he looked up at the Knightmare that dared interrupt his plans when they were just about to come to their conclusion.

* * *

Atop the coliseum standing on top of the wall behind the stands as well as Jeremiah's and one of the opposing Sutherlands, the Lancelot had its arm outstretched with a cable attached to its arm leading down to the slash harken that had stopped Kewell's advance.

"Stop it!" a voice that was easily recognised as belonging to Suzaku Kururugi boomed over the PA system, "You're all Britannian soldiers."

* * *

"That's him," Jeremiah said looking behind him and up at the Lancelot with a hint of panic and astonishment in his voice; panic that Suzaku Kururugi had come for his revenge after his court martial had fallen through, "It's that Honorary Britannian."

* * *

"The advanced weapon, Lancelot," Jeremiah's voice came over his Sutherland's PA system as the cable attached to the Lancelot's arm made its retreat as Suzaku brought back its slash harken.

* * *

Inside the Lancelot's cockpit, Suzaku looked down at the five Knightmares as he assessed the situation, still wearing his civilian clothes from when he had met up with Euphemia.

* * *

"What business does the Special Corp want here?" Kewell's voice came over his Sutherland's PA system sounding rather infuriated since he realised that his plans could potentially be shot to hell, "Interlopers will die."

"No," Suzaku's voice objected as two attachments came out of the back of the Lancelot's arms and rotated upwards and attached themselves to the sides of the Lancelot's cockpit. Near the bottom of the two attachments, part of their sides rotated a full ninety-degrees and gave the appearance of sword hilts and the Lancelot's hands were brought up and grabbed the handles underneath the guards and pulled out two grey-bladed swords with hollowed centres that suddenly started to glow with purple energy and then the two blades suddenly became pure red and their hollowed out areas vanished and Suzaku had the Lancelot bring the two swords in front of him in an X formation, "I can't stand by and ignore this senseless battle."

* * *

"Oh my god," Kewell said from inside his cockpit with a fearful look in his eyes as he realised that his plans were now officially going down the toilet, "They've perfected the MVSes."

Unfortunately, his pride would not allow him to accept it. He had come too far for everything to fall apart now and seeing how the Lancelot's pilot was just an "Eleven", he deluded himself into believing that he could defeat him despite the fact he knew that the Lancelot was a far superior model to his Sutherland and that the intensity of piloting the Lancelot would probably kill a normal pilot, himself included. Unfortunately, due to his pride, he refused to acknowledge that fact. He was a Britannian and the Lancelot's pilot was just an "Eleven" He was superior to him, though he found himself seething in fury as deep down, he knew what his pride was telling him was a lie and that in order to pilot the Lancelot, one had to be at least on par with the Knights of the Round and because Suzaku was not a Britannian, it was just too much to bare.

"Too late," he surmised as he glared up at the Lancelot, "I won't back down."

* * *

Outside, his Sutherland brought its lance to the side with the pointed end face upwards and aimed its slash harkens from the sides of the cockpit up at the Lancelot and fired, causing the Lancelot to jump into the air and thrust forward in order to avoid the attack.

* * *

"We're on the same side," Suzaku protested as he noticed the other three Sutherlands fire off their slash harkens.

* * *

Outside, the three other Sutherlands did indeed fire their slash harkens, following their leader's example, but the Lancelot spun off to the side, avoiding the first one and as the second, which he also managed to dodge pasted, the Lancelot brought one of its MVS sword and brought it down on the cable that attached the slash harken to the Knightmare Frame and then used the other sword to parry a third at its cable, effectively deflecting it. A fourth and fifth came at the Lancelot, but the MVS sword easily severed cut through them as if they were made of butter and when the sixth and last slash harken came, the Lancelot raised its arm and brought the MVS sword down on the slash harken and cut it and the cable right down the middle.

* * *

"Suzaku Kururugi is saving me?" Jeremiah said in a tone of complete disbelief from inside his cockpit as he was unable to believe what was going on, though he had to admit that he was impressed by what he saw.

Unlike many in the Purist Faction, Jeremiah was not as delusional as the others in believing that Britannians were superior to everyone else in the world. Unlike many Britannians, he could handle a non-Britannian being just as skilled if not better than Britannians. He might not like that notion right enough, but he was not so closed-minded as to believe that it was impossible and knew that there were probably non-Britannians, perhaps even some of the "Numbers" from Britannia's conquered areas who were just as good and better than the Britannians themselves; after all though many Britannians did not like to think so, everyone on the planet was a human being and he found himself unable to complain as Suzaku Kururugi was saving his life, but the question was, why?

He was the one who had Suzaku Kururugi stitched up as a scapegoat for Lady Rochelle's death and the attempted murder of Prince Clovis. If anything, Suzaku Kururugi should allow Kewell and his cronies to kill him or at least he could come in and kill him himself. How could Suzaku Kururugi be so forgiving as to save his life especially since the only thing that Jeremiah was sorry for was the fact that he had fallen under Rei's hypnosis and let the whole thing fall apart or could it be that Suzaku Kururugi had still not figured out the truth behind his court martial as he remembered hearing the boy protest his innocence during his interrogation and how he continued to claim that they'd made a mistake even when it would be obvious to even a child that no one cared.

"He should get the record for stupidest person on the planet," he thought as he continued to watch Suzaku in the Lancelot clean house, "Even now you still haven't figured out that I was using you as a sacrificial lamb in order to do away with granting your kind honorary status."

Nevertheless, he found himself glad that Suzaku Kururugi had not figured it out as it had proven to benefit him in the end.

"I can't believe I'm actually glad for the fact that someone's stupid," he thought with a laugh before his face contorted in anger as he realised what it would also mean, "Of course, this means I'm in his debt."

* * *

Euphemia's eyes widened in amazement as she observed Suzaku clean house with the Lancelot from a side entrance to the coliseum at ground level that led into the stadium floor. Lloyd stood beside her holding what appeared to be a clear-coloured anti-riot shield that anti-riot police used and Cecile stood behind her as all three watched the Lancelot in action.

"The MVS or Maser Vibration Swords," Lloyd said as he turned to face her as if sensing her curiosity, "Basically, they use a combination of extremely high oscillation rates and high temperatures to increase the overall cutting effectiveness of the weapons."

"I take it that's why they turned red," Euphemia said curiously.

"Uh huh," Lloyd went on as Cecile shot him a questioning look as she wondered why he was explaining his work to a civilian, but kept her mouth shut for the time being, "In theory when two MVS weapons clash, the one with the higher oscillation rate will win and easily cut through the opposing weapon, but if they both have similar oscillation rates, then they will clash without one cutting through the other… at least in theory. I also hypothesise that the deeper the red colour of the MVS weapons are then the stronger, sharper and more durable they are."

Euphemia nodded as she raised an eyebrow. She found herself glad that the Lancelot, as she now knew the Knightmare that almost ruined her plans never used those MVS swords then; obviously because they must not have been ready for operational use back then she figured. If Suzaku had come in wielding such deadly weapons, the end result could have been a lot worse and she found herself fearing that she may have ended up being caught and that sent a shiver down her spine.

"Why are you telling me this?" she questioned curiously in an attempt to hide her fear since she knew that the Lancelot would be more difficult to deal with in future with the addition of the MVS swords and who knows what else, "I'm curious about it, I'll admit, but aren't you giving away classified information to someone who's not meant to know this stuff? After all, you don't even know who I am."

Cecile obviously had those thoughts on her mind as she gave the pink-haired girl a questioning look.

"I honestly don't see the harm in telling you," Lloyd said in a dismissive tone as if what he had told her did not really matter and emphasised his tone with a dismissive wave of his hand, "Even if you were some Eleven sympathiser that passed it onto a terrorist group, I doubt they have the resources necessary to build suitable countermeasures and even if they did, I doubt they'd trust the word of a Britannian given the racial climate here."

That much was probably true, Euphemia figured with a nod. However, unfortunately for them they did not know that she was Rei and no one knew who Rei really was underneath the mask. Agreeing to allow Suzaku's colleagues to escort her back into the settlement had proved quite beneficial after all. She was getting information about the Knightmare that had almost ruined her plans before she had killed her mother and was already formulating several strategies on which to fight back, but the problem was that Suzaku was the Lancelot's pilot and unfortunately for her, he was well above the average Knightmare Frame pilot… perhaps even as skilled as those on the Knights of the Round. If it was not for the fact that he was Japanese, Euphemia knew he would have made an excellent candidate for the Knights of the Rounds; at least in terms of skill.

"I'll just have to leave it for now," she thought with a sigh as she was still determined to get Suzaku on her side in which him piloting the Lancelot could prove beneficial, but for now she decided to just push her concerns to the back of her mind.

* * *

The Lancelot landed on the ground with its knees bent and the nearest Sutherland rushed forward and attempted to thrust its jousting lance into the cockpit area, hoping to kill Suzaku, but the Lancelot brought its arm up and parried the lance and then brought its leg round, performing a leg-sweep, which caused the Sutherland to fall after having its legs taken out from under it.

Another of the four Sutherlands zoomed forwards towards the Lancelot with the same intentions as the first, but the Lancelot blocked the attack using the left MVS sword to cut through the middle of the lance and then, in one swift motion, cut through the forearm of the Sutherland's arm that was holding the lance, severing it from the rest of its body.

* * *

"We can at least kill Orange," Kewell said, absolutely infuriated that his plans were washing down the drain, but like Jeremiah when Rei had first confessed to being Lady Rochelle's killer, he hoped to salvage at least part of his plan.

* * *

Outside, Kewell's Sutherland zoomed towards Jeremiah's damaged Sutherland and like his two colleagues with the Lancelot, he intended to impale Jeremiah with his jousting lance, but Jeremiah had managed to bring his Sutherland's arm up in an attempt to block the attack with the arm's stun tonfa.

Sparks flew from contact as Kewell's grunts could be heard over his Sutherland's PA system as it looked to be a stalemate, but another Sutherland suddenly appeared out of nowhere, having jumped from the top of the coliseum wall and slammed into Kewell's Sutherland, effectively disrupting his attack.

* * *

"Lord Jeremiah," Villetta Nu said from inside the cockpit of the new Sutherland as she had decided to try and save her superior from Kewell's fiendish plot after she had dealt with Kewell's lackeys back at the Purists' headquarters.

* * *

"Villetta, thanks," Jeremiah said from inside his cockpit as he breathed a sigh of relief; not only at being saved, but from the knowledge that not all his colleagues had betrayed him and were still loyal to him.

* * *

Outside, Kewell's Sutherland moved backwards in retreat as Villetta's Sutherland landed next to Jeremiah's and dropped into a fighting stance. However, the Lancelot moved in front of both Sutherlands with the MVS swords at the ready as it dropped into a fighting stance of its own.

"Still wanna fight!" Suzaku's voice boomed over the Lancelot's PA system in a challenging tone as if daring Kewell to continue as he now realised that it was pointless trying to reason with him.

* * *

Euphemia looked on in awe, as she was amazed at what she had just witnessed. However, she suddenly heard footsteps coming from behind her and also heard the sound of someone panting for breath.

"Huh?" she said as she started to turn round, but noticed a familiar looking girl run right by her, totally ignoring her, Cecile and Lloyd and continued running right towards the battlefield.

"No way," she thought in shock as her eyes narrowed as they zeroed in on the girl and her face contorted with pure malice and hate.

She knew who this girl was. The girl's brownish red hair and twin pigtails along with the golden hairbands with the golden rings attached were unmistakable. This was someone Euphemia could honestly say she hated even before Lady Marianne's assassination and someone she would definitely have no qualms killing in the least.

"Why's she here?" she thought as she found herself fighting the urge to growl in contempt as she just could not stand that little bitch.

* * *

Inside his Sutherland's cockpit, Kewell was seething. His plans to usurp control of the Purist Faction and restore it to greatness had flown down the drain and now the Special Corp's latest weapon was staring him down, having been the one responsible for the ruination of his plans and worse, it was piloted by an "Eleven" and not just any "Eleven"; Suzaku Kururugi, the same "Eleven" they had used as a scapegoat for Rochelle's murder in an attempt to do away with the Honorary Britannian system. It was indeed ironic and laughable, but the more Kewell thought about it, the more enraged he became.

This was just not possible in his mind. He knew the Lancelot could not be piloted by just anyone. Heck, even he could not pilot it and he knew that if he tried, the intensity of the strain would kill him. The problem was that Suzaku Kururugi was an "Eleven" and in his mind, "Elevens" and other "Numbers" from other conquered areas should not have that level of skill. This meant that Suzaku Kururugi was better than most Britannian pilots save the Knights of the Round and it was that that enraged Kewell to no end. This should not be happening. Suzaku Kururugi was an "Eleven". He should not be that skilled, it was inconceivable and he actually had the gall to say that they were on the same side. Well, Kewell had to admit that that was true, but with his pride being as it is, he would rather die than admit that.

He could not help but think back to Marianne "the Flash", a commoner whose skills impressed the Emperor so much that he made her one of his Imperial Consorts and she had been a commoner by birth. Kewell had despised Marianne for her commoner status like many others and it was her skills that he had despised the most. Marianne had once been the Knight of Six, though with her skills, she could have easily been the Knight of One, but was only given the position as Knight of Six as many of the nobles would have probably accused her of only gaining the position of Knight of One through favouritism. Marianne was rumoured to be the Emperor's favourite wife out of one hundred and eight, that much was for sure. However, the fact was that Marianne was highly skilled and many nobles could not stand that a commoner excelled in something they did not. To many; Kewell included, Marianne's very existence was a crime against humanity simply because many believed that social class dictated the rules of reality and Marianne had shattered that belief.

Suzaku Kururugi was the same in Kewell's opinion, though the fact that he was an "Eleven"; a native a conquered area only seemed to intensify that feeling even more. At least Marianne was a Britannian, though many were also infuriated at the fact that she was also a woman. In Kewell's opinion, Suzaku Kururugi had become a male "Eleven" version of Marianne, someone who he despised with a passion as he remembered his father, who had been a Margrave had been shown up by Marianne when he was turned down for promotion in favour of Marianne.

"Men, stand down," he said with a sigh as he decided that he was going to try something.

He knew that it would likely fail, but with his pride damaged as it was, he was willing to give it a try anyway.

* * *

Outside, the three Sutherlands in league with Kewell all moved away from their position in retreat, though whether their pilots were simply following orders or whether they had caught on to their leader's plan was unclear.

"Kewell?" Suzaku's voice came over the Lancelot's PA system as the Lancelot relaxed and dropped both arms to the sides, "You understand then."

"I'm using a Chaos Mine," Kewell's voice responded over his Sutherland's PA system as a compartment opened up at the side of his Sutherland's right leg where the joint to the torso was and a cylindrical object, the Chaos Mine popped out and Kewell's Sutherland grabbed it with its hand.

* * *

"Uh," Suzaku said from inside the Lancelot's cockpit as he realised what Kewell was planning to do.

* * *

Meanwhile, the girl ran towards the battlefield just as Kewell threw the Chaos Mine.

"No, stop it now!" she yelled.

* * *

Inside the Lancelot's cockpit, Suzaku, having heard the girl's shout turned to look out at the side in surprise.

* * *

"What?" Jeremiah said from inside his Sutherland's cockpit as he too heard the girl shout.

* * *

However, the Chaos Mine suddenly activated with release mechanisms firing off and the central section falling away and then the two ends moved apart, though they were still connected by a central section with small gaps.

The Lancelot brought its arm up and the armguard suddenly started to glow a yellowish green colour, but if that was not spectacular, then a shield made of pure energy appeared in front of the Lancelot as the central section of the Chaos Mine started to rotate at a rapid pace, making a high-pitched loud humming sound as it fired off shrapnel towards the Lancelot.

This caused the running girl to stop as she skidded to a halt and looked up and saw the pieces of shrapnel bounce harmlessly off the Lancelot's energy shield and shoot back in all directions.

* * *

Inside the Yggdrasil Drive, the Yggdrasil Resonance accelerated to new heights as Suzaku had activated the energy shield and unfortunately, the power to maintain the shield came from the Lancelot's energy-filler.

* * *

"Blaze Luminous," Lloyd started to explain to Euphemia from their vantage point by the coliseum side entrance, "Basically, it's a system that projects energy and solidifies it in the form of shields round a nearby target."

Euphemia nodded as she remembered witnessing the Lancelot use its Blaze Luminous during her last encounter with it when the terrorists she had recruited were trying to defeat it.

"The amount of energy required to maintain the shields is proportional to the amount of energy that the shields block."

"Wouldn't that be a massive drain of the energy-filler?" Euphemia asked curiously, "It seems that it takes an awful lot of energy to maintain those shields for even a few seconds."

"Unfortunately, yes," Lloyd confirmed, sounding nonplussed as it was clear he was aware of the potential problem, "And unfortunately, it's something that I've yet to rectify and I don't know how."

Euphemia turned her head to look back at the Lancelot in wonder as she realised that she just may have found a potential weakness in the Lancelot… assuming that crazy crackpot of a scientist does not find a way round it anytime soon.

"And better yet, I'm sure I can think of a way to disable it without hurting Suzaku," she thought with a smile, glad that not only had she found a flaw in the Lancelot, but also that it was possible to deal with it without hurting Suzaku, "Now I'm positively glad I came along with these people."

* * *

Back with the Lancelot, the shrapnel from the Chaos Mine continued to come as the girl was forced to shield her eyes from all the bright flashes and she brought her arms in front of her face and she worried that the Blaze Luminous would not hold out much longer and the onslaught of shrapnel did not look as if it would end anytime soon.

* * *

Inside the Lancelot's cockpit, Suzaku grunted as similar thoughts ran through his mind, though he refused to let up and continued to maintain the Blaze Luminous as best he could, determined that he was going to protect the girl beneath him no matter what.

* * *

Outside, after what seemed like an eternity, the shrapnel stopped and the Chaos Mine fell harmlessly to the ground; its ammunition of shrapnel all used up as smoke rose from the various gaps that the shrapnel had come from.

The girl then opened her eyes and her arms dropped to their sides as she turned with a serious look on her face as she started to walk out from underneath the Lancelot and towards Kewell's Sutherland.

* * *

"That Honorary Britannian?" Villetta said from inside her Knightmare's cockpit with a look of shock and surprise on her face as her eyes widened, "He risked his life for…"

"Everyone," the girl's voice came over Villetta's communicator, "Lower your weapons at once."

* * *

Back outside, the girl continued to walk towards Kewell's Sutherland. She had brownish red hair into two short pigtails and pure blue eyes. Her pigtails were held in place by two golden hairbands with a ball attached to each out and beneath that a smaller ball and then a rather large ring that one could easily mistake for earrings. She also wore a purple choker with golden outlining and a smaller golden ring attached at the front of the choker and a golden mark in the centre above the ring. She also wore purple shoes, a reddish pink skirt and a light pink shirt was the words "WAR IS GOOD!" in red lettering sown into the back of it.

"In my name, I command you," the girl went on as she continued her speech before coming to a complete stop halfway between the Lancelot and Kewell's Sutherland.

* * *

"It can't be," Kewell said from inside his cockpit and then suddenly, he felt a strange sensation wash over him as his eyes widened and if anyone could see his eyes, they would have noticed the familiar reddish orange glow round his irises that indicated that he had fallen under the influence of Euphemia's Geass.

* * *

"I am Carline le Britannia of the Empire," the girl went on, unaware of what was happening to the pilot in the Sutherland in front of her, "And the Fifth Princess of the Royal Family."

* * *

"What the… she's a princess?" Suzaku said to himself from inside the Lancelot's cockpit, unable to find anymore words to say as he was clearly surprised at the fact that he had saved a princess.

* * *

From where she was, Euphemia glared daggers at Carline, remembering all the times Carline had made Nunnally's life and by extension, her own a living nightmare.

"Why's she here?" she repeated her earlier statement in her thoughts as she supressed the urge to growl, "Anyone but that little warmongering troll."

* * *

"I am assuming command here," Carline went on, her voice still serious, "Now fall back, now!"

"Though I would have loved to have watched them all continue to try and kill each other," she thought as she mentally grinned as she rather enjoyed watching people killing one another, "Unfortunately for me though, Cornelia's on her way and she charged me with ensuring that everything runs smoothly for her arrival and we can't have our own people fighting among themselves, though I could really care less. However, Cornelia's not the sort of woman you want to anger."

That much was true, Carline knew. Cornelia did have a fiery temper and a rather short fuse; especially when it came to people talking her thought-to-be-dead sister, Euphemia in the negative, though Carline now knew that Euphemia and Nunnally were both still alive and well. However, Carline had a job to do and she knew that Cornelia would not be pleased if she neglected that job and given how she had witnessed and had been on the receiving end of Cornelia's anger in the past as Cornelia clearly did not like her in the slightest, she knew better than to push her luck.

* * *

"It is her," Jeremiah said from inside his cockpit after recovering from his shock over hearing her introducing herself, "It's the Princess."

* * *

"Princess Carline is here?" Cecile said is surprised astonishment as she had taken the anti-riot shield from Lloyd and was now in front of Lloyd and Euphemia with the shield partially raised.

"Yep, she's the Sub-Viceroy of Area Eleven with Princess Cornelia taking up the post of Viceroy," Lloyd said is a casual dismissive tone as if it were nothing, having gone back to the entrance and had his elbow rested on the wall to his right and a foot on the wall to his left is a strange pose.

"Sub-Viceroy, but isn't she only fourteen?" Cecile asked as she turned her head to face her superior her eyes widening in even more surprise.

"Uh huh, that's correct," Lloyd confirmed dismissively as if it were no big deal, catching Euphemia's attention in the process, "However, she's been a student up until now and hasn't made her public debut yet."

"I wonder why she's here," Euphemia said aloud, though it was directed more at herself than Cecile or Lloyd.

"I'm not entirely sure of that either," Lloyd answered truthfully, "Though it's said that she looked up to Lady Rochelle and is looking to avenge the death of her idol."

Euphemia nodded as she turned back to glare at Carline. What the scientist had said was pretty much true. Euphemia knew that her mother always had a lust for blood… a lust for blood that terrified most of the most insane psychotic killers; including one, Luciano Bradley, a man whose lust for blood was so great and who indiscriminately killed allies and foes alike, it earned him the moniker, the Vampire of Britannia. Even he was terrified of Rochelle and knowing Carline's love for war, it was not hard to believe that Carline had looked up to Rochelle and obviously she wanted to join in the hunt for her killer.

"No doubt, it took a bit of convincing though," Euphemia thought bitterly, knowing how much Cornelia hated Carline as well and probably did not agree to this arrangement… at least Euphemia hoped that was the case; after all, the last she had seen both of them was seven years ago and she knew that things may have changed since then.

* * *

Inside Kewell's cockpit, the Geass-induced Kewell stared down at Carline through the monitor in front of him as he hesitated for a moment.

"I'm terribly sorry Your Highness, but I've come too far to let the Imperial Family ruin my chances," he said automatically, unable to stop himself or even realise what he was doing.

* * *

Outside, the arm of his Sutherland holding the jousting lance raised high above its head with the point of the lance pointed straight at Carline… or that's what it appeared, but in truth, the lance was pointed just two metres to Carline's right.

"Now die Imperial scum!" Kewell's voice boomed over the speakers of his Sutherland's PA system, much to Carline's surprise as she looked up at the jousting lance in fear, believing that he was seriously going to end her life.

"Lord Kewell, what are you doing?" the voice of one of the pilots in one of the Sutherlands that had accompanied him came over the Sutherland's PA system, "This was not part of the plan!"

* * *

"Why that treacherous bastard," Jeremiah growled from inside his Sutherland's cockpit as his face twisted in anger and he immediately reached for the controls to his Knightmare Frame.

Despite Jeremiah's ambitions, he was extremely loyal to the Imperial Family and in truth; he had no idea that Kewell had severed communications with the Homeland. His loyalty to the Imperial Family stemmed from his time at the Aries Villa during his time as part of Lady Marianne's personal guard. When Lady Marianne was assassinated, he had allowed himself to be overcome with guilt and depression in which he founded the Purist Faction despite originally not believing in the rhetoric they preached. He was just searching for an excuse to forget that horrible incident seven years ago, but unfortunately, as he had become so absorbed into the Purists' rhetoric, he had started to believe it himself, which was probably why he was not as furious as the others were about Suzaku Kururugi's skill with the Lancelot.

Anyway, one thing that did shine through was his desire to help the Imperial Family, which was why he had originally come up with the idea of using Suzaku Kururugi as a scapegoat for Lady Rochelle's murder. He wanted power to ease the burden from the Imperial Family's shoulders, though like before, he had become too absorbed in his own and the Purists' ambitions to realise that. He wanted to save the Imperial Family the trouble of dealing with the problems that came with governing conquered areas as he believed that such problems were beneath the Imperial Family and best left to lower ranked military and administration officials. He vowed to help the Imperial Family and now that Kewell was threatening to kill one of them, he sure as hell was going to stop him before he succeeded.

"KEWELL!" he shouted for the second time that day before letting out an almighty battle cry.

* * *

Outside, Jeremiah's damaged Sutherland had risen to its feet and jumped towards Kewell's Sutherland as it brought its jousting lance down on the frightened princess.

"RRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Jeremiah's battle cry came over his Sutherland's PA system as it slammed into Kewell's Sutherland, causing it to fall on its back with Jeremiah's landing on top of it.

Needless to say, this caught Kewell's three accomplices by surprise as they were unsure what to make of it as they were convinced that Jeremiah really did not care for the fate of those of the Imperial Family and would have been happy to allow Kewell to kill Princess Carline, though they were surprised that their leader would do such a thing since such an action would only serve to incriminate the Purist Faction even further.

* * *

Inside Kewell's cockpit, the shudder from the impact of the Knightmare Frame landing on its back brought Kewell back to reality as the reddish orange glow round his irises vanished as he suddenly felt that he was just waking up from a sleep and needless to say, he found himself feeling rather confused as he had no idea what he had just done.

"Hey… what the…?" he said in a confused tone as he noticed the opposing Sutherland on top of his own through the monitor and then his face immediately twisted in furious anger as he guessed who this was, "Just what do you think you're doing Orange? You've disgraced us enough."

"You dare make an attempt on Princess Carline's life," Jeremiah's furious, accusing voice came through Kewell's communicator, "And you talk about me being a disgrace?"

"How dare you accuse me of treachery when you're the one…" he started to say with venomous hatred in his voice as years of bottled-up jealousy and resentment poured out of him.

"Actually Lord Kewell, you did attack the princess," the voice of one of his accomplices came over the communicator, "That was not part of the plan. Just what were you thinking? You've gone and damned us even further with that move."

"What are you talking about?" Kewell demanded as he felt his rage increase, unable to believe that one of his own was standing up for Jeremiah… at least that's how he saw it, "I never attacked the Princess."

"Yes you did, just what are you trying to pull?" another on his accomplices' voice came over the communicator in a rather demanding tone, "You're using the same excuse as Orange here. We all saw you, so don't try to deny it."

"What?" Kewell said as his eyes widened in shock, unable to believe what was happening as he genuinely did not remember trying to kill Princess Carline and was shocked that two of his accomplices were accusing him of doing so and from the sounds of their voices, they were really convinced that he did try to kill the Princess.

"Okay, that's enough!" Carline's commanding voice came from outside, bringing Kewell's attention to the monitor.

* * *

"Have that man arrested and we'll get to the bottom of this later," Carline continued from outside as she glared at the Sutherland that had tried to take her life before turning her attention to Jeremiah's Sutherland, "As for you Gottwald, don't think that this "Orange" affair is off the hook, though I will tell Cornelia that you did save my life."

* * *

"Thank you Your Highness," Jeremiah said from inside his cockpit as he let out a sigh of relief at the possibility that he may end up with a more lenient punishment than before.

* * *

Back outside, the three other Purist Sutherlands along with Villetta and Jeremiah's all dropped to one knee with their right arms across their chest areas and fists clenched.

"We're truly sorry Your Highness!" the voices of Kewell's three accomplices boomed over their Sutherlands' PA systems.

"My Lady," a new voice came, causing Carline to turn and she saw Suzaku who had exited the Lancelot's cockpit and was running towards her.

Carline just shot him a rather uncaring look as she scoffed.

"Please forgive me Your Highness, I had no idea who you were when I first saw you," Suzaku said as he came to a stop either ignoring or had not noticed Carline's stare, "I just saw you were about to get caught in the crossfire and acted on instinct."

"An Eleven pilot, aren't such things banned?" Carline said as she gave Suzaku a rather indifferent look, "I was under the assumption that Knightmare simulators were the closest Numbers would ever hope to get to piloting an actual Knightmare Frame."

Suzaku flinched looking visibly disturbed by her insulting comment, though he wisely remained silent.

"Nevertheless, you did save my life from the shrapnel from that Chaos Mine, not to mention you handled yourself pretty well," Carline went on as her face transformed from a look of indifference to a deceptively sweet smile, "I'm sure you'll be handsomely rewarded if you keep up the good work."

Suzaku hesitated for a moment but then moved forward and dropped into the same pose as the surrounding Sutherlands.

"Th-thank you Your Highness," he said, feeling that his work starting to pay off, "I'm unworthy of your kindness."

Carline just gave him a deceptively gentle smile and then turned to face where Euphemia was and saw her older half-sister and from the looks of it, she was giving her a furious glare.

"Hook, line and sinker," she thought as she glanced back at Suzaku who was now standing up and making his way back to the Lancelot's cockpit, "If I'm right about that Kururugi guy, he'll be rather easy to wrap round my finger and manipulate. As long as I keep him believing that I'm helping him and tell him what he wants to hear, he'll do anything and as an added bonus, I get to piss you off dear Euphemia."

She had managed to get a fair idea of Suzaku's personality after following him and Euphemia round the settlement through listening to him recount his past and she found that it also presented her with an opportunity to make Euphemia's life hellish without actually telling anyone that she was alive as she became convinced that Euphemia and Suzaku were girlfriend/boyfriend.

"Time I introduced a little trouble in paradise," she thought smugly as she gave Euphemia a rather smug look as if to say "I'm gonna make your life a misery; just try and stop me".

However, she had to admit that Euphemia did terrify her, though she would never actually admit it and from what she had learned after witnessing the incident with those two boys back in the ghetto, she had every reason to be. Recalling Jeremiah's episode, the episode that the guards that were supposed to be guarding Lady Rochelle and Prince Clovis and now that Kewell character's episode and all of them claiming not to remember what they were doing and seeing the strange glow in those two boys' eyes when Euphemia had suggested they leave caused Carline to come to one rather startling conclusion; Euphemia was Rei, though she was not a hundred percent sure, but after everything that had happened and with what she had witnessed with those two boys, it was pretty compelling evidence.

"Coming here may have its extra benefits," Carline thought rather excitedly.

The truth was, she had decided to come to "Area Eleven" to join the hunt for Lady Rochelle's killer as she had looked up to Rochelle due to her bloodlust and love of death. The Knight of Ten, Luciano Bradley was another of her idols, but even he paled in comparison to Lady Rochelle and was even terrified of her and Carline knew that Rochelle had wanted to kill the "Elevens" and that apparently, she died while trying to do just that.

Of course, when the Emperor had selected Cornelia to replace Clovis as Viceroy, Cornelia had refused to let her come as she had absolutely despised Carline since she tended to talk about Euphemia and Nunnally both in the negative, but Carline had gotten her mother, Henrietta le Britannia and her brother, Cassius le Britannia to force Cornelia to let her come and they had threatened to make Cornelia's life rather difficult if she refused or if anything happened to her and needless to say, it worked. Cornelia relented and grudgingly agreed to let Carline come and appointed her Sub-Viceroy, probably as a means of keeping her occupied and out of her way, but that did not excuse Carline from Cornelia's anger and it was also one of the reasons Carline had decided that she would not divulge the information that Euphemia was not only alive, but was possibly Rei.

"Boy Euphie, I never knew you had the guts to waste your own mom," she thought snidely with a smile at the possibilities and they rather excited her.

She could tell Cornelia, but she knew that without proof, to do so would be suicide. Cornelia had loved Euphemia and had pretty much doted on her as if trying to spoil her rotten. Carline knew that Cornelia never agreed to sending Euphemia away and after she learned of the news that her sister and Nunnally had both been pronounced dead, her already fierce and fiery temper had become a whole lot worse. Even though Carline had not been with Cornelia on her escapades, she had heard stories of people who got on her bad side and it was not pleasant. On some visits to wherever Cornelia was as her mother would drag her children on her diplomatic ventures, Carline had even seen Cornelia's furious temper and had even been on the receiving end of it and all she and most of the others who had been unfortunate enough to anger her did was bring up either Euphemia, Nunnally, Lelouch and Marianne in the negative, but mostly Euphemia. She recalled one incident in which one person had hired someone to pose as Euphemia and claimed that he had found her alive just for a laugh, but unfortunately for him, Cornelia immediately saw through the hired woman's disguise and both she and the man who had hired her were never the same afterwards. Carline knew that if she told Cornelia that Euphemia was alive and was Rei, Cornelia would not believe her and immediately tare into her with her rage.

"Also I get to watch the li Britannia sisters as they beat the crap out of and try to kill each other," she thought rather excitedly as her love for war and destruction took over.

That was another reason she had decided not to turn Euphemia in. She never liked both li Britannia sisters and the news that they would possibly end up at each other's throats rather invigorated her and the thing was, Cornelia had no idea that she was fighting her little sister, whom she loved and adored and do just about anything for. Carline found the whole situation laughable and it excited her. It was obvious why Euphemia was fighting against Britannia. After all, Carline knew that Euphemia felt that she and Nunnally had been abandoned by their people and was no doubt looking for revenge; plus she knew that Euphemia was probably also planning on finding out the truth about Marianne's assassination as that was the reason why she and Nunnally had been sent away in the first place.

In truth, she did not care much for Marianne. She was a commoner; yes, but Carline found that irrelevant and only joined the in-crowd for the fun of it. Her brother, Cassius though, he was dead-set opposed to Marianne's commoner status as was her mother and the fact that Marianne had skills that many other nobles did not have only made matters worse. However, Carline hated Marianne's daughter, Nunnally because her views were the opposite of her own and the fact that Nunnally did not return her feelings only made her hate Nunnally even more. She and Nunnally were considered polar opposites. Nunnally was good and she was bad, Nunnally was the light and she was the darkness and Nunnally was the positive and she was the negative. However, Nunnally did not share that sentiment and it rather infuriated Carline.

"Doesn't she know how to hate?" she thought, thinking back to the times she bullied Nunnally and how Nunnally refused to retaliate no matter how much she humiliated and hurt her.

It was also because of her one-sided rivalry with Nunnally that she came to hate Euphemia, who had the same views as Nunnally, but unlike Nunnally, she did retaliate and it led to a rivalry between her and her older half-sister. Carline was the same age as Nunnally and yet, her main rivalry was with someone two years older than her and who mostly got in her way whenever she bullied Nunnally. That was the foundation of their rivalry. Carline would hassle Nunnally and Euphemia would stand up for her, though Euphemia and Nunnally did get into arguments from time to time; mainly over who would marry Lelouch, Nunnally's full-blooded brother, but that was just normal sibling-rivalry. Anyway, even back then, Euphemia had grown to despise her and Carline had to admit that it scared her a little.

She remembered one incident a year before Marianne's assassination in which she had pushed Nunnally into the deep end of a swimming pool and just left her to drown. Nunnally could not swim and Euphemia had jumped in and saved her and afterwards, she had chased Carline round the Aries Villa and Carline remembered how Euphemia had grabbed a brick from a pile as the Aries Villa was undergoing renovations and she had to admit that had it not been for her mother and Cornelia intervening, she knew that Euphemia would have killed her; using the brick to bash her face. That was the one time in which her fear of Euphemia had shown as she knew Euphemia would have seriously killed her had it not been for her mother and Cornelia.

* * *

From where she was, Euphemia witnessed Kewell's apparent attempt to kill Carline and it brought a smile to her face and she was also glad that Lloyd and Cecile were too occupied with themselves to notice her.

"And with that, the final nail on the Purist Faction's coffin is in place," she thought to herself as she rested her right elbow on her left forearm that was positioned across her stomach and her right hand was over the left side of her face and her index and middle fingers making a V shape with her left eye in the gap as her Geass flared to life for just a second before vanishing, "Geass also possesses post hypnotic properties. Certain commands only activate through a specific trigger. Pretty much like a hypnotist hypnotising someone to say "woof, woof" every time they hear the word "dog" and whenever the person hears the word "dog" mentioned, they automatically say "woof, woof". Thanks for being my involuntary guinea pig Kewell."

She remembered how she managed to use her Geass on Kewell. The previous night, after Suzaku had left her after refusing to join her as Rei, she did not go straight home, but had instead made her way the Central Registry Office and using her Geass on the staff, she had managed to get Kewell's home address and she had also wiped the security cameras' footage of her and using her Geass on the entire staff, she had wiped their memories of her ever being there and afterwards, she had gone to Kewell's address and waited for him to return and then used her Geass on him and ordered him to try and kill the first person he recognised as being a member of the Imperial Family or if someone introduced themselves as a member of the Imperial Family. However, she had also commanded him to fail, which was why his aim had been off. After all, she could not risk her command working too well and him doing the deed before someone could save the member of the Imperial Family being targeted. The last thing she needed was an incident that would undoubtedly heighten security and make it more difficult for her to enact her plans. Even if Jeremiah had not saved Carline in time, she knew that the others would have probably accounted for the fact that he had missed as bad aim. This was the coup-de-grease on her plan to ruin the Purist Faction beyond repair as she had anticipated the possibility of the Purists somehow managing to pull through and rebuild their reputation. However, with this, any the chances the Purists had of regaining what they had lost would be forever out of their reach. The repercussions would ensure that the Purists would not be able to seize power for an awful long time.

However, the problem was Carline. Euphemia remembered Carline and her warmongering views and she also remembered how she would often bully Nunnally because she had nothing better to do and because Nunnally had views that opposed her own. She found Carline rather infuriating and her presence intoxicating. The more she stared at Carline, the more she wanted to throw up. She could not stand this little she-demon and wanted nothing more than to take that choker round her neck and shove it down her throat and after witnessing her interaction with Suzaku, that feeling had intensified as alarm bells went off in her head, telling her that Carline was definitely planning something. Unfortunately for the time being, she knew that she could do nothing without risking exposing herself and so; she grudgingly remained quiet and decided that she would take whatever it was Carline threw at her whenever it came.

"Sub-Viceroy huh?" she thought bitterly, "Just what are you planning you little she-demon?"

Somehow, she knew that Carline had been following her and Suzaku and she guessed that Carline must have guessed that she was her thought-to-be-dead half-sister, but she was not worried. She knew how much Carline hated her and from the look she was giving her right at that very moment, Euphemia knew that that had not changed. She knew Carline would not tell Cornelia or anyone else for that matter. That was the one thing she could trust Carline on. She knew that Carline probably believed she had way too much to lose if she did rant her out, but still, her plans for Suzaku made Euphemia feeling rather uneasy as she knew that Carline was probably planning on using him just to spite her.

* * *

Rolo, who had followed Carline after Euphemia had gotten into the SRDT had seen everything since Carline had arrived, though he had remained out of sight. After witnessing Kewell's apparent attempt on Carline's life and his denial afterwards, he deduced that he had been acting under the influence of a Geass. That was not surprising since the OSI under Eleanor el Britannia's command were all aware that Euphemia was a Geass user due to Jeremiah's actions during Suzaku Kururugi's court martial and it was suffice to say that she had come into contact with C.C. as well. The secondary mission here was to capture C.C. and Rolo knew that while he was observing Euphemia, he was also to ascertain what she knew about C.C.'s whereabouts, though from overhearing her conversation with Suzaku while in the settlement, he discovered that Euphemia had C.C. held up in her home. Now he was on his way back to the OSI base in the Shibuya Ghetto.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" a voice came as two Japanese men walked in front of him, blocking his path and he felt the presence of a third man behind him, "Don't you know that Britannians like you ain't allowed to here?"

Rolo turned round to face the person behind him; the one who had spoken. He was a big burly man with short brown hair and a blue left eye and his right was covered with a black patch. Rolo looked him over and from the looks of his bulging muscles, it was clear that he worked out. He wore old tattered brown boots, a pair of baggy green trousers and a black tank-top.

"Yeah, Britannians in the ghetto ain't welcome," one of the other men said.

"You're trespassing on Japanese territory," the last man said as Rolo turned back around to study the other two men.

The one on the left was fairly tall wearing a red woollen hat with a small tuft of orange hair sticking out at the front. He had green eyes and wore a pair of white and blue sneakers, a pair of blue jeans that were torn with huge holes in various areas, a dark blue t-shirt and a brown waistcoat over his t-shirt.

The last man had long whitish silver hair that stopped halfway between his shoulders and elbows and dark brown eyes. He wore a pair of black trainer shoes, red trousers that looked as if they were a little too big for him and a navy blue t-shirt with the white outlining depicting a burning city at the front. He also had a silver chain round his neck with the word, "SALVATION" in silver Roman lettering and in English attached to it at the bottom.

"I suggest you three go about your business," Rolo warned in a somewhat threatening tone as his face took on an expression of slight annoyance.

"What was that?" the man with the eye patch said, "Speak up, I didn't catch that."

The other two just laughed.

Rolo just sighed as he shook his head. He really had no time for this and as a member of the OSI, he knew that killing non-targets was against the rules, but judging from the way those three men were looking at him, he knew that if they did not back off, he would have no choice but to kill them. He always carried a gun on his person at all times just in case. The OSI had the rule of killing only the assigned target to minimise the chances of drawing unwanted attention to themselves and though defending yourself was the only exception to this rule, the OSI still did not like it when "non-targets" as they called the general public or anyone who was not on their hitlists were killed and agents who did so were often reprimanded for it.

"I believe he told us to leave Hiroto," the second man said with a cruel laugh.

"Yeah, that's what he said," the third man said with an equally cruel laugh.

"Why should we?" the first man, Hiroto asked as he forced Rolo to turn and face him and shoved his face right in Rolo's, "Do you honestly think that just because you're a kid that we're gonna spare ya?"

"Obviously not, but that's not why I told you to leave me alone," Rolo replied in a rather calm and collected tone, which only served to anger Hiroto as he wanted Rolo running scared, "It's for your own safety."

"Our own…" Hiroto started to say, sounding increasingly furious, but then burst out in boastful laughter as he found the situation hilarious.

"Hey Seiji, Toshiro, you should hear this kid talk," Hiroto boasted as his two cohorts burst into equally boastful laughter.

"What are ya gonna do to us little boy?" the second man, Seiji asked in a tone of mock fright.

"Oh I'm shakin' here," the third man, Toshiro laughed, using Seiji's tone of mock fright.

"Sorry kid, but we don't take too kindly to Britannians to stumble into our turf," Hiroto said as he folded his arms and suddenly his face twisted in anger as he glared at Rolo, "You Britannians destroyed our country and walk all over us and rub the fact that we lost in our face with your continued existence. Kid or not, yer still just a Britannian and Britannians who trespass here are destined to die."

Rolo glanced back behind him to see Seiji and Toshiro pull out knives from their trouser pockets and Rolo could not help but feel glad that those two boys that those three men who tormented Suzaku confronted had not met those three otherwise; given their attitude, the two Britannian boys would have been dead.

"Any last words before we slice an' dice ya?" Hiroto said as he pulled a knife out of his own trouser pocket, revealing that he too was armed.

Rolo just sighed and shook his head.

"I did warn you," was all he said before Hiroto lunged at him.

However, what happened next, none of the three Japanese men could explain. One second, the Britannian kid was standing in front of Hiroto as he lunged at him and the next, the kid was gone and Hiroto found himself crumbling to the ground with a pain in his stomach and he found that his knife was no longer in his hand. Raising a hand to where the pain in his stomach was, he almost immediately pulled his hand away after he felt a strange wetness and as he looked at his hand, his eyes widened in horror as he saw a familiar red liquid that could only be identified as blood.

"W-w-what?" he exclaimed in absolute disbelief.

Seiji and Toshiro's eyes widened in shock. It was obvious that their leader had been shot, but neither of them had seen the kid move and realising that they could not see him, both started to look around with a fixture of fury and fear; fury at the fact that he somehow managed to take down their leader and fear that they had not seen him do it.

"Where is that little…?" Toshiro started to say before he suddenly felt a pain shoot through his back that seemingly came from out of nowhere.

The pain caused him to turn round and he saw Rolo standing there with a military-style pistol pointed right at him.

"YOU…!" he screamed before Rolo squeezed his finger on the trigger and a bullet shot out of the gun and straight at Toshiro's head, cutting him off before he could finish.

"Shit, this kid's some kind of demon," Seiji said as he dropped his knife and turned to flee, but Rolo activated his Geass, which caused a Geass insignia to appear in his right eye and then a red bubble of reddish orange energy shot out of his eye in all directions and engulfed the fleeing Seiji and the still-living Hiroto.

Both Hiroto and Seiji froze in their poses as still as statues with the familiar reddish orange glow in their eyes. However, unlike with Euphemia's Geass, the glow signified that they were under the effect of Rolo's Geass, which had the power to freeze a person's perception of time. Rolo could not freeze the flow of time itself. Any moving projectiles within his Geass's range would still move and anyone who jumped; they would freeze in their pose, but would fall back to the ground. It was good for quick getaways and assassinations. However, it did not affect security cameras, so even if he managed to freeze everyone's perception of time in a given area, if there was a security camera trained on him, it would still pick up his movements.

"I'm sorry to do this to you," Rolo said as he shook his head as an expression of genuine sorrow appeared on his face, "But you've seen far too much already."

He then pointed the gun at Hiroto's head and fired and then walked up to Seiji and pointing the gun at the back of his head, he fired before releasing his Geass and feeling the strain on his heart, clutched his left hand over it and continued to walk in the direction he had been walking in, ignoring the three dead bodies of his tormentors.

* * *

Later at the Government Bureau behind the main building was a mini-airport with a Britannian Transport Plane sitting on the runway with a group of men line up with their backs to it and in front of them was Princess Cornelia, who was facing Carline, who had to lines of men lined up behind her at either side. It was night and the airport was bathed in a reddish pink light.

"I heard what you did earlier Carline," she said, keeping her tone strictly professional, "You shouldn't be so reckless, especially since that Kewell character tried to kill you. If anything happened to you, your mother and brother would "put me through the grinder" as Cassius puts it."

"I know sister, forgive me, but you were the one who wanted things to be running smoothly for your arrival," Carline replied as she tried to defend herself.

"You will address me as Viceroy here, Sub-Viceroy Carline," Cornelia said in the same tone as before, choosing to ignore Carline's explanation, "Because we're half-sisters we need to follow a stricter protocol."

"Yes, I understand," Carline said in the same tone Cornelia used, though in a somewhat mocking manner, which earned a disapproving grunt from Cornelia, who fought the urge to lash out at her.

Honestly, Cornelia could not stand this girl and it was taking everything she had to just tolerate being in her presence. Like she had said, if anything happened to Carline, she knew she would be in for one hellish time from both Henrietta and Cassius. After her victory in the Middle Eastern Federation and the establishment of "Area Eighteen", Henrietta had contacted and told her about Carline's wish to join in the hunt for Rochelle's killer. At first she refused as she could not stand Carline and knew about her rivalry with both Nunnally and Euphemia. Heck, Cornelia once even caught Euphemia when she was about to bash Carline's face in with a brick after Carline tried to drown Nunnally and in truth, she had been rather tempted to let Euphemia go ahead and do it, but Henrietta had happened to come along and then both had stepped in, though mainly to defend their respective full-blooded relative from repercussions. In any case, Carline clearly liked to insult Euphemia and Nunnally, even now. However, Henrietta had been extremely persistent and finally resorted to threatening her if she continued to refuse and then Cornelia rather grudgingly accepted, though she was shocked to learn from Henrietta that Carline had already arrived in "Area Eleven", which meant that she would have been lumbered with her anyway.

"God, just looking at her makes me want to decapitate her," she thought, shooting her half-sister a sinister glare to which Carline boastfully responded with a snide smirk as if to say, "You can't harm me".

"Now then," she said as she turned her head to her right to face a man standing off to the side, "Give me your report."

"Yes," the man, who had short brown hair and a brown moustache that travelled along the sides of his face and merged with his hair and wore a grey uniform said as he stood at attention with his right hand over his heart in a diagonal position, "My Lady, the first order of business is a welcome party we've arranged for Your Highness…"

However, Cornelia had pulled out a strange looking gun and interrupted him when she pointed it at him.

"Uh," he said in surprise as Carline flash a devious smile and looked at Cornelia as if daring her to fire.

"Sloppy, senile, corrupt," Cornelia responded with evident anger in her voice that seemed to increase with each individual word, making it clear that that was not what she wanted to hear, "Where is this Rei character? I want the enemy of the Empire caught. GET REI!"

Carline's smile turned into a grin that seemed to get wider at the increasing anger in Cornelia's voice as she spoke. Obviously, someone neglected to mention to that poor guy that Cornelia was not a woman who was interested in pleasantries. She preferred to get straight down to business so she could get it over with as soon as possible. To Cornelia, things such as parties were just bothersome and only wasted time that could be spent doing more important things such as hunting down terrorists or in this case, hunting down Rei, whom Carline was sure was Euphemia, but she knew Cornelia would turn her anger on her if she so much as uttered even a syllable of Euphemia or Nunnally's names. It was because of Euphemia and Nunnally's supposed deaths that Cornelia's already-short-fuse became considerably shorter, though Carline knew that the deaths of Marianne and Lelouch also played a part in that. Cornelia and Euphemia had been closest to the vi Britannias, so the loss of Marianne and Lelouch dealt Cornelia a blow, but the loss of Euphemia and Nunnally was what broke the final straw on the camel's back. Cornelia had lost… or believed she had lost all the people who were closest to her and her short temper was just a result of that. However, the fact that Euphemia was quite possibly Cornelia's enemy and the fact that Cornelia did not know brought a smile to her face.

"Watching two sisters who were once close beat the tar out of one another as they try to kill one another is a rather exciting spectacle," she thought excitedly as she laughed at Cornelia's cluelessness, "And you Cornelia don't even realise it. It's laughable. I really hope both you and Euphemia make total fools out of one another because in the end, I'll be the one laughing last. I only hope I have enough popcorn to last as I watch you two kill one another. Not only will Lady Rochelle be avenged, but I'll have both of you out of my hair and things will be the way they should by."

* * *

Meanwhile at the hospital, Clovis was still recuperating as he sat up on his bed with a rather furious look on his face. Ever since his admittance to the hospital he had been flooded with "Get Well" cards and phone calls from various women who were "concerned" for his well-being, but he knew the truth. These women were mostly from noble families who were only after him because he was a prince and were hoping to use his status to heighten their own. They were just gold diggers basically and it annoyed him to no end. However, most of the women had stopped calling after he had reached boiling point and snapped at them, but this one woman was persistent and he was on his last nerve with her.

"God, I'm really starting to wish Euphie had killed me along with that serpent of a mother of hers," he thought as he glared furiously in front of him, "At least I wouldn't have to deal with this constant harassment day in and day out."

The woman who kept calling him, Wilma Everton was one persistent woman who called him every ten minutes or so and he vowed that on the next call, he would lash out at her because he had really had had enough. He hated it that many women only viewed him as a means to increase their standing. It was one of the downsides of being a Prince and one of the reasons he was content to renounce his claim to the throne, which had become stronger since Euphemia killed Rochelle and told him about the Ragnarok Connection that their father was supposedly involved in, but unfortunately, with all those calls from the gold diggers, all that had apparently taken a back seat as the only thing on his mind right now was to get the accursed phone calls to stop.

"Your Highness, phone call," a nurse said as she opened the door and walked into the room with a phone in her hands, "I told her that you didn't want any phone calls at the moment but she insisted."

Clovis's eyes narrowed as he glared at the phone since he assumed that it was Wilma again as the nurse had identified the caller as a woman. Nevertheless he snatched the phone hook out of the nurse's hand and placing it to his ear, growled into it.

"Go and fuck your dead sister's corpse you horny bitch!" he practically screamed into the phone, knowing that Wilma had a dead sister whom she had been extremely close to as Wilma had told him as much.

"I BEG YOU'RE PARDON!" the voice on the other end of the phone boomed in pure outrage, causing the colour to drain from Clovis's face as his expression washed over in horror.

This was not Wilma at all like he had expected, but it was someone he knew and someone who did have a dead sister, or at least she and he up until a few days ago believed was dead and of all the things he could have said to this woman, that had got to be the worst thing he could have thought of.

"C-C-C-C-Cornelia!" he spluttered in fright, knowing just how easily provoked his half-sister was whenever the subject of her sister was touched on.

"I'm a dead man," he added in his thoughts, "Oh well; at least I won't have to worry about father's Ragnarok Connection."

"Yes, it's me," Cornelia's voice came over the other end of the phone sounding a great deal calmer, "I just called to tell you that I've arrived in Area Eleven."

"I see," Clovis said with fear still evident in his voice, "Listen, about what I said before…"

"If it had been anyone else, I would have hunted them down and killed them," Cornelia said, interrupting him with a slight increase in anger evident, "But seeing how you're my brother and all, I'll let that one slide and assume that you thought I was someone else."

"Y-yes, that's what I was going to say," Clovis sighed with relief, "Honestly, I genuinely thought you were someone else. I've been phone calls from gold diggers left, right and centre and I'm just about at my wits end with them."

"I see," Cornelia said with a sigh as Clovis started to calm down, feeling somewhat at ease with his half-sister.

* * *

Three days later on a Monday morning at Ashford Academy, Euphemia, who was lazing about at her desk with her elbow rested on the desk suddenly found her attention diverted to the front of the class as the teacher had announced that two new students were joining them; not that Euphemia particularly cared, but once she heard the voice of the first student, she looked towards the front of the class in shocked astonishment.

"I'll be joining the student body here at Ashford Academy beginning today," the boy said as he introduced himself, "My name is Suzaku Kururugi. It's a pleasure to meet you."

He then followed up with a traditional Japanese bow before walking towards an empty seat.

"And now, the second of our new students," the teacher said as he stood to the side as a boy with short light brown hair and purple eyes walked up, having stood behind Suzaku during his introduction.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," the boy said in a cheerful tone as he looked round the classroom, "My name is Rolo Haliburton and I'll also be joining you all here as of today."

However, as the boy, Rolo introduced himself, Euphemia could not help but stare at him, especially when his gaze fell on her and seemed to stay focussed on her a bit longer than the other students, which caused her to cringe. She did not know why, but this boy caused the alarm bells in her head to ring as she could not help but get a strange vibe from him. He seemed pretty harmless and at first glance also looked emotionally fragile; like even the slightest insult could turn on the waterworks. He definitely looked as if bullies would have a field day tormenting him, but all that seemed to intensify the warning bells in Euphemia's head and she involuntarily shot him a glare as if to say "Keep away from me" as he started to walk towards an empty seat.

Suzaku noticed Euphemia and his eyes widened in shock as he had not expected to meet with Euphemia, though he remembered her telling him that she attended the academy, but he did not think that he'd bump into her so soon, though he noticed her agitation as she gazed at Rolo.

"I wonder what that's about," he thought curiously as he sensed that Euphemia felt somewhat threatened by the boy who had coincidentally joined at the same time as him.

* * *

**Author's Notes **– Another chapter done, finally. It feels like I've been doing this one chapter forever. I really must apologise yet again as my lack of motivation seems determined to stick with me and on top of that, my mom needs the computer for important job-related work and will be mostly occupied with it from tomorrow till, hopefully the end of the week, but she'll still need on from time to time up until March or April. Anyway, this is my longest chapter yet. It took so long because certain bits took longer to write than I anticipated. I wanted to make the end of the Purist Civil War different from the anime, with Kewell's attack on Carline (she was the girl following Suzaku and Euphemia the previous two chapters and kudos to anyone who figured that out before hand). Carline will assume Euphemia's cannon role as Sub-Viceroy, though unlike Euphemia, she won't be all peace and love and has an agenda of her own. Next chapter will see Euphemia and Suzaku at school along with Rolo; hopefully Eleanor and Kallen will discover certain things about Euphemia that will increase her curiosity over the pinkette. Oh by the way, I'm taking down my poll as Marianne has clearly won and I had already decided that she would be the final antagonist early on when she started doing so well. I'll put up a new poll and it's question is a surprise.


End file.
